By MIN LWIN, The Irrawaddy, June 15, 2009 Rangoon, Burma — Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs is effectively prohibiting Buddhist monks from traveling abroad by refusing to issue letters of recommendation, according to senior monks in Rangoon.
Without a letter of recommendation from the ministry a monk cannot apply for a visa to travel to a foreign country.
A monk from a monastery near Rangoon’s revered Shwedagon Pagoda said that Rangoon’s religious department stopped issuing the letters last week.
“There are currently several monks in Rangoon who are waiting for visas but who have been refused letters,” he said, adding that young Burmese monks often travel abroad for Buddhist study, especially to India and Sri Lanka.
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