The junta and members of the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) have been compiling lists of men eligible for conscription in Mutraw (Hpapun) District, territory, mainly controlled by Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 5.
Since 1 October 2024, in Kamarmaung Town in Hpapun Township in Mutraw District and its surrounding villages names of local men aged between 30 and 60 years old are being collected mainly by BGF soldiers, according to officers from Brigade 5 and Kamarmaung residents.
The names of people chosen for conscription into the junta army will come from these lists. The junta will provide funding and equipment for the conscripts who will then undergo military training, according to KNU Brigade 5 spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Saw Kler Doh.
He said: "The junta's conscription officers plan to draft conscripts for deployment in village and town-level security measures. The junta will arm the conscripts and provide financial benefits. The junta has assigned the primary responsibility for implementing the conscription drive to the BGF; however, the BGF has only dared to openly collect names for conscription in the Kamarmaung Town area. While similar activities are occurring in the outskirts, they are happening to a lesser extent. Also, the new conscripts who will undergo military training will likely be hesitant to continue living in their communities and will need to stay exclusively at BGF or junta bases.”
At the beginning of September, the junta and BGF troops held a meeting with residents of Kamarmaung's downtown wards and some nearby villages to discuss their plans to collect names for conscription. During that meeting, some residents were pressured to comply with the junta's conscription drive and were coerced into signing agreements, according to local sources.
A woman living in Kamarmaung Town explained that people selected for conscription who do not want to join the military can avoid doing so by making monthly payments.
She said: “Those collecting the names have household registration lists for each ward, and are going from house-to-house collecting names. We have heard that the junta intends to conscript at least 30 individuals from each ward. We also heard that those on the conscript list who do not wish to attend military training can avoid this by paying a monthly fee of 30,000 MMK each. Currently, the enumeration process necessary for conscription is still ongoing.”
In recent days, the junta's collection of names for conscription has mainly happened in Kamarmaung Town Ward 9 of and nearby villages. As a precaution, local youths who do not wish to serve the junta are evacuating the area. Meanwhile, the BGF is conducting strict roadblock checks on the Hpapun to Kamarmaung to Warbotaw section of road to prevent youths from fleeing, according to local sources.
The junta-appointed Karen State Chief Minister, Saw Myint Oo, assigned Bo Maung Chit, the commander of the BGF Battalion 1014, to lead the conscription drive on 5 September 2024. Ever since then the local population has faced an increased risk of conscription.
As BGF Battalion 1014 primarily operates in Hpapun Township it is presumed that this BGF-led conscription drive is only going to take place in Kamarmaung Town and its surrounding villages.
