Facing manpower shortages from ongoing attacks by ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and armed resistance forces, the Junta has accelerated recruitment for conscription..
Having already recruited two batches under the conscription law enacted in early February, General Maung Maung Aye, Chief of General Staff (for Army, Navy, and Air Force), has ordered effective preparations for the third batch.
Due to the first and second batches falling short of recruitment targets, General Maung Maung Aye
is believed to have pressured recruitment officers to better prepare for the next batch.
Veteran politician U Pe Than criticized the conscription law as a process that drives young people to their deaths, accusing the Junta of selfishly pushing it to meet its desired conscription numbers.
"The conscription law pushes young people to death. Sending them to the frontlines after only short military training, is like sending them to their own graves. So it is logical for those called up to opt to flee or evade. Since the desired number of recruits is not being met, I believe the Junta has resorted to more coercion and threats”, he said.
At a meeting of the Central Body for Summoning People's Military Servants, General Maung Maung Aye warned that those who evaded conscription in previous batches should be dealt with effectively according to existing laws.
The conscription law stipulates that those summoned and failed to report to the relevant authorities, will face up to 3 years of imprisonment, a harsh fine, or both.
On the other hand, many armed resistance forces have warned that those who support the Junta in implementing the law will be dealt with decisively, and there have been incidents of such supporters being eliminated.
The conscription law was activated more than three months after the Junta faced 'Operation 1027,' which inflicted the greatest suffering on it in the post-coup military conflicts. Due to this operation by the Three Brotherhood Alliance in northern Shan State, the Junta lost many areas and a significant portion of its manpower. As a consequence, coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing enforced the conscription law, which had been enacted during the previous military dictatorship under Than Shwe but never implemented, as a desperate measure.
As soon as the announcement of the conscription law's activation, the Junta swiftly intensified recruitment efforts. The first batch of 4,300 recruits was then distributed to 15 military training schools nationwide in late March, reported by Burma Affairs and Conflict Study (BACS).
In the second week of May, town and village administrators appointed by the Junta gathered new recruits for the second batch, even before the training period for the first batch had concluded. They employed various methods for recruitment, including coercion, draw lot systems, and utilizing paid substitutes.
Amid the constant threat of the Junta's conscription law, approximately 85,000 young people have attempted to flee to foreign countries through various means, while the number of individuals seeking refuge in liberated areas controlled by the resistance forces has surpassed 3,500, according to BACS.
