Having already conscripted 1,700 people from Mon State the junta there is now resorting to organising night time festivals so that it can kidnap and conscript young people on their way home from the festivals.
The junta is on its ninth nationwide round of conscription since the conscription law was re-enacted on 10 February 2024. Of those so far conscripted in the first eight rounds of conscription, about 1,700 come from Mon State.
In the earlier rounds of conscription the junta offered poor people money to join the army, which helped them reach their conscription targets, but now, it is harder to find people willing to enlist for money. This, combined with heavy junta battlefield losses has forced the junta to resort to increasingly haphazard and chaotic ways to find conscripts.
These include abducting people who are out at night.
Bizarrely, the junta has been accused of organising night time festivals in Mon State so that it can kidnap and conscript young people on their way home from the festivals, according to a resident of Mon State.
He said to Than Lwin Times: “The situation has worsened recently. The junta has deliberately organised festivals at night, and young people returning from these events are intercepted by junta soldiers on their way home and abducted. Those who can afford it can buy their freedom, but those who can't are sent to military training. Young people must be especially vigilant right now, as the junta is using every means possible to draft as many as they can.”
Talking of the junta’s reasons for relying so much on conscription, Nai Naga, a spokesperson for the Mon State Revolutionary Force (MSRF) said: “The junta is abducting young people to replenish its lost manpower and is also dreaming of retaking the territories it lost in the north. From this, it seems the junta leaders will not easily give up the power they have illegally seized. I want to say that they are using the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) for their own interests.”
To avoid conscription, young people across Myanmar, including in Mon State, are fleeing abroad in large numbers or going to seek shelter in areas controlled by the resistance.
Under the conscription law men aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 35 are required to serve in the military for 2 to 5 years. If they refuse they face imprisonment, a fine, or both.
According to the Burma Affairs and Conflict Study (BACS), the junta conscripted at least 21,000 people nationwide during conscription rounds one to five, which ran from February to September 2024. Of those approximately 13,000 from the first three rounds have already been deployed to the frontlines.
