The junta’s implementation of the conscription law has caused a shortage of workers across all business sectors in Mon State making it very hard to find employees, according to business owners in the state.
The conscription law was re-enacted by Min Aiung Hlaing on 10 February 2024 in an attempt to bolster junta troop numbers which had been heavily depleted in fighting throughout the country. Nine months later it has led to a major labour crisis in Mon State.
There has been a mass exodus of young people from Mon state to other countries, as they try to avoid forced conscription and abductions or being called up for military service.
Mon State's rubber plantations, a key regional industry, face widespread shutdowns because they are unable to find sufficient numbers of workers as the rubber tapping season approaches.
A rubber plantation owner said: “Until last year, we’d never had trouble hiring workers, but now we can’t find them anywhere. Some plantations have already decided to skip rubber tapping this year. Last year, we had 16 workers; this year, we only have nine, and even they were hard to find. We can’t hire anymore.”
Despite rubber plantation owners offering higher wages for rubber tappers than last year, there is still a shortage of workers, both from Mon State and migrant workers from other regions of Myanmar.
The owner of a salt production business said that the conscription law has created such a severe shortage of workers that he and other business owners can no longer afford to keep their businesses running.
He said to Than Lwin Times: “Workers are extremely scarce, and all salt production business owners are struggling. We don’t even know how to keep operations running with so few workers, and with salt prices stagnant, it’s harder to make a profit. Right now, there are many challenges for salt production business owners.”
Nearly all industries in Mon State—including agriculture, ranching, manufacturing, and construction—are struggling with a labour shortage triggered by the junta's conscription law.
Many youths from Mon State have been trying to flee abroad to escape conscription. Unfortunately any who are arrested for illegal entry to another country and deported back to Myanmar are often immediately forcibly conscripted by the junta on their return, according to a person assisting with labour issues in Mon State.
He said: “Young people are in a panic and are trying to leave the country by any means possible, often heading to places like Malaysia. However, when they’re caught using illegal routes or working without permits, they’re deported. Once they’re sent back to places like Kawthaung Town at Myanmar’s southern tip, junta troops often seize them for conscription.”
According to the junta’s conscription law all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35 are liable for conscription. This means that able-bodied men have left the country en masse, causing widespread labour shortages.
Some businesses have been forced to abandon expansion plans and are struggling to survive due to the labour shortage, whilst others have had to halt or reduce operations, which has greatly reduced their incomes.
Since the conscription law took effect in February 2024 until the end of October 2024, the junta has carried out six rounds of conscription in Mon State and drafted 1,500 Mon men into the army.
