HUNDREDS of people are gathered in a grassy area in front of Yangon International Airport snapping pictures of loved ones, making the area look more like an outdoor photo studio than a garden.

Many of the people in the crowd are young men in their early 20s, most from rural areas throughout Myanmar, who are on their way to new jobs in Malaysia. The photographs will be cherished by family and friends soon to be separated by the opportunity to make money overseas.

“Today, many young people are going to Malaysia, so I see these kinds of group every day,” said a porter who works at the airport. “Most of them seem to come from rural communities so they sometimes don’t have many people to see them off at the airport.”

Ko Tun Tun, 20, from the town of Pakokku in Magway Division, was one of those about to board an airplane.

“Most young people want to work in Malaysia because we have no job opportunities in our town. We can earn K200,000 a month in Malaysia, which is a dream for a young person who can’t find a job,” he said.

He said he was on his way to work at a private paper-cutting business in Malaysia, after having spent K1 million provided by relatives on brokers’ fees and other costs.

Although most parents know little about what their sons are getting themselves into when they step onto the airplane to Malaysia, many still support the decision to look for work overseas.

“What we know is that some people working in Malaysia can earn more money,” said Daw Thein Khin from Tatkone township in Mandalay Division, whose 24-year-old son is working as a waiter in Malaysia. “I let him go there to work because I think it’s better than being jobless here. If he stays here, I’m worried he would turn into a drunkard.”

“Most young people in rural areas spend the morning sitting in teashops and the evening drinking in beer stations because they have no job opportunities after graduation,” she said.

The promise of earning more money in foreign countries has led to the proliferation of brokers who act as liaisons between those looking for work and overseas job agencies in Yangon.

“A woman in our village is now getting rich because she arranges for young people to contact job agencies in Yangon,” said Daw Mo Mo Kyaw from the village of Mout in Gangaw township, Sagaing Division.

Ko Aung Pyi, the manager of an overseas job agency in Yangon, said about 100 Myanmar workers go to Malaysia each day.

In 1999, the government began permitting people in Myanmar to work in Malaysia. Since then, about 125 agencies have been registered to help locals find jobs there, but only about 50 of them are abiding by the regulations by the Ministry of Labour, officials said.

Such agencies usually charge about US$650 to help someone find work in Malaysia, but they often face problems from workers who breech their contracts by failing to send 30 percent of their earnings back to their families in Myanmar or pay 10pc tax to the government.

Earlier this month, the Department of Labour warned all job agencies in Myanmar to take responsibility for collecting this money from their clients or risk losing their licences to operate.

“We always push the workers in Malaysia to send their money back to Myanmar but it is difficult work for us,” said Ko Aung Pyi, a senior manager at one job agency. “If we don’t get the money, we have to make temporary payments on their behalf or we’ll lose our ability to operate.”

About 30pc of the registered job agencies in Myanmar send workers to Malaysia, with the rest sending people to Singapore, Qatar, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries.

“It costs less to go to Malaysia than other countries,” said Ko Naing Lin Tun from the town of Meikhtila in Mandalay Division, who was waiting in a crowd in front of the passport office on Pansondan Street in downtown Yangon. “If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to support my family to some extent. If not, my family will be in debt. It’s a risk for me.”