July 19, 2021
english.shannews.org
At a hotel in Wa State, near the Myanmar-China border, Chinese national Li Jiajie is growing increasingly desperate by the day.
The 24-year-old has been surviving on his savings since last month when he quit his job as an assistant chef after Chinese security officials instructed all citizens to leave northeast Myanmar .
But Li is uncertain how long he might have to wait before he can enter quarantine in Pangkham, the main city in the state, before crossing the border to reach his homeland.
“Only a few hundred people a day are allowed to enter the quarantine centre in Pangkham,” he said. “There are at least tens of thousands of people in the queue. I have quit my job and desperately want to go back, but I may have to wait here for months.”