Long queues outside Myanmar embassy in Singapore leave many frustrated and anxious

SINGAPORE: Sitting on the pavement outside a condominium, Krystal (not her real name) leans against the shrubbery to shield herself from the sun as she swats away flies.

Next to her is another Myanmar national, who only wanted to be known as Joy, and plastic bags filled with food and bottles of water.

Krystal and Joy had been waiting outside the Myanmar embassy on St Martin's Drive for nearly 12 hours when CNA arrived at about 5pm. The pair needed to get their passports renewed. 

According to the embassy, its online booking system opens every Friday at 1pm, allowing between 350 and 400 people to book slots to renew their passports.

However, bookings have been snapped up, with the next available slot only available on Jun 10.

Under the current arrangement, the embassy sees between 70 and 80 people each day with online bookings and allows 20 people with no existing bookings to walk in.

Those who apply in the morning can get a new passport on the same day, the embassy told CNA, adding that it issues between 90 and 100 passports daily.

“We are looking after our citizens and helping people, especially domestic helpers or construction workers who have difficulty getting an online booking," it said.

The embassy added that it had started this special arrangement in January to allow Myanmar nationals based in Singapore to renew their passport in time.

A check on Facebook revealed photos of long queues outside the embassy dating back to Apr 11. In several videos, people are seen waiting in the rain at night.

Krystal, who works as a maid, told CNA she had tried to make an online booking several times but was unsuccessful.

“I didn’t do it earlier because I didn’t have the time. But now, I have no choice but to come here and wait because my passport already expired two days ago,” she said.

Meanwhile, Joy is worried about being deported as her passport is due to expire on Jun 2. 

"I must get it done soon, so I'm planning to wait here overnight," she said. 

Responding to queries from CNA on how it plans to tackle the backlog of passport renewal requests, the embassy said it will start issuing walk-in tickets for 30 people instead of 20 from May 13.

This will be done a day in advance starting from 4.30pm.

“It will be better because currently they don’t tell us what time the tickets will be issued, so we just have to wait,” said Joy.