Junta Abductions Surge in Malamyine

Junta Abductions Surge in Malamyine

Since the junta announced amendments to the conscription law young people have been abducted in the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine and their families have not heard from them.

On 23 January 2025, the junta announced amendments to the conscription law that included an amendment that prohibits people of conscription age who have been summoned and registered for military service from travelling abroad, even if they have still not yet been conscripted.

Since then, junta troops and junta-appointed authorities in Mawlamyine City have been carrying out stricter checks under the pretext of security and ramping up arrests targeting young people. They are becoming more brazen and are even rounding up and abducting young people during the day, according to a Mawlamyine City resident.

He said to Than Lwin Times: “The abductions happen day and night, but it’s worse after dark. They’ve become much more blatant now. Most young people are too scared to go out at night. Since the conscription law amendments their [the junta’s] behaviour has become even more audacious.”

As well as abducting adults there are reports that the junta is also abducting minors in Mawlamyine City which is causing growing concern amongst the city’s residents.

A person close to the family of a missing underage youth from Mawlamyine City said that in cases like that the missing minors are rarely found, even after extensive searches.

He said to Than Lwin Times: “The missing boy from my friend's family is about 16 or 17 years old. He left home around 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning and never came back. At first, the family thought he was just late returning, but when it became clear he hadn’t come home, they searched desperately for him. They also checked the bus stations, but there was no sign of him.”

He added that when cases of such missing people are reported to the junta police in Mawlamyine City, the police just record that the person as missing but do not carry out any searches.

Previously, the junta was managing to reach its conscription target numbers by finding people who would accept payments to take the place of those who had received conscription orders and were unwilling to serve or had already fled. In nearly all such cases the substitutes are paid for by the relatives of conscripts who did not show up and the communities that were not supplying enough conscripts.

Currently the junta is carrying out its ninth round of conscription since the conscription law was activated in February 2024. Since then approximately 1,800 young men have been conscripted from Mon State, according to research by Than Lwin Times.

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