The junta plans to prosecute people in Mon State who have evaded conscription after being called up.

At a 7 November coordination meeting of the junta’s Central Body for Summoning People’s Military Servants its chairman, Admiral Tin Aung San, ordered that people who avoid conscription be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Following this announcement the authorities in Mon State, which remains under junta control, said that they plan to prosecute people who have evaded conscription after being called up. They will be tried in police stations in the area where they are registered as living.

But, the conscription law has not yet been properly finalised and there are no rules or guidelines as to who should be exempt from conscription. Currently, no exemptions are made, even for people such as those in poor health, carers or primary breadwinners, according to U Kyi Myint, a senior lawyer at the Union Supreme Court.

He said: “The junta has failed to issue rules that would systematically define how to carry out the conscription law. These rules are essential to ensure conscription is carried out humanely. For example, there should be specific guidelines stating that individuals in poor health, those caring for their parents, or primary breadwinners are exempt from military service. Since such civilised rules have not been put in place, it means the junta is acting without regulations, doing whatever it pleases.”

He also said that prosecuting people for evading conscription could actually violate the conscription law if it is done before rules are in place about who can and cannot be exempted from conscription.

But, the conscription law does detail punishments for people who do not turn up after receiving conscription papers. People who fail to report for duty after being summoned, or who register but fail to turn up for their medical checkup, may face imprisonment of up to three years, or a fine, or both.

Dr. Thiri Mon Chan, the chairman of the Mon State Defence Force (MSDF) revolutionary force said that any such prosecutions show that the junta is weakening.

He said: “Now the junta is targeting young people who are avoiding military service. I believe this is a clear sign that the junta is beginning to suffer losses on battlefields nationwide.”

In Mon State the sixth batch of conscripts is being trained and the authorities are preparing to conscript the seventh batch of conscripts.

Across Myanmar the junta is using a range of tactics to conscript or force young people to serve in the army.   These include offering new recruits financial incentives, unjustly arresting people and then forcibly conscripting them, and using coercion and blackmail, according to Burma Affairs and Conflict Study (BACS).

BACS also said that since the junta reenacted the conscription law in February 2024, it has conscripted approximately 21,000 new soldiers in five different conscription batches. Those conscripted in the first three batches are already serving on the frontlines.

BACS is an organisation that collects, and analyses data and uses it to compile reports on the junta's political and military movements