The junta conscripted more than 20,000 people nationwide during the third, fourth, and fifth rounds of conscription according to data gathered by Burma Affairs and Conflict Studies (BACS).
It was easier for the junta to conscript people in the first two conscription rounds as people who supported the junta were more open to conscription. But, after they had all been conscripted in the first rounds it became far harder for the junta to conscript people in the later conscription rounds, so the junta has had to use far more force and coercion to conscript people.
Ko Min Htet Aung, a research officer for BACS explained: “During the first and second rounds, they held a lottery. Then, they informed people in advance and come to their homes to pick them up. During the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, they changed tactics. Instead of using the lottery system, they began forcibly abducting people at night from certain checkpoints. And then they also started conscripting people who were deported back to Myanmar after serving their sentences in Thailand.”
The junta is carrying out such forced conscription in areas under its control. These include Naypyidaw, Yangon, Mandalay and Bago regions, the eastern part of Magway Region, and Southern Shan State.
Ko Min Htet Aung said that junta troops have been arresting and abducting people for conscription from deserted streets, checkpoints, and flood-hit areas and suppressing any news about such activities.
He said: “They began making surprise visits to homes, arresting people without prior notice. Unlike the first two rounds, they are now suppressing information about their actions, preventing the public and media from knowing what they are doing."
He went on to explain that now people are not just being conscripted under the conscription law. Some are being illegally conscripted straight into the army with junta battalions abducting people themselves and forcing them to serve in those battalions.
He said: “ There are two methods of recruitment: conscription under the People's Militia Law and the old practice of forcibly abducting people from their communities and sending them to the military. Most of those who are currently fleeing are the ones who were forcibly conscripted. Forced conscription, where people are abducted and sent to the military without following the law, is becoming more common.”
The Pa-O National Army (PNA), a junta-aligned militia, is currently also conscripting people in the Pa-O self-administered zones in Southern Shan State.
Many young people in Myanmar fear that there will be an increase in conscription by the junta and its allied militias and ethnic armed organisations so they are fleeing to seek refuge in safer areas, liberated zones, and foreign countries.
BACS is an independent Myanmar data aggregation agency formed by young individuals from diverse backgrounds and fields. It is “dedicated to the watchful monitoring and meticulous documentation of each action undertaken by the Myanmar Military.” It uses data sourced from publicly accessible news media to compile concise briefings and comprehensive reports.
