Young flee conscription in Myanmar
Junta’s plans to replenish army result in exodus as military announces call-ups starting in April
YOUNG people are racing to flee Myanmar after the military introduced conscription to help replenish its ranks amid an all-out civil war.
Last week, the junta announced a plan to draft 60,000 young men and women yearly for military service, with call-ups beginning in April.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, leading to an insurgency and devastating the economy.
At least 70,000 people have already fled, while roughly 2.6 million have been internally displaced. Those figures look set to rise after the junta unveiled mandatory conscription plans.
Wathone, a spokesman for People’s Goal, which works with military defectors, said: “It made the whole country [in] more chaos, especially the youth. Now, a lot of them are trying to immigrate abroad. Thailand is mostly chosen as it is a neighbouring [country] and the culture is mostly similar.”
This week, long queues snaked through the streets outside the Thai embassy in Yangon, where hundreds of young people waited in the sun with their visa applications. Amid the huge demand, Thailand has announced that it will grant only 400 new visas a day.
Tom Kean, a senior consultant on Myanmar at the Crisis Group think tank, told The Telegraph: “According to the military, the number of people eligible for conscription is around 13 million. It would only have the capacity to recruit and train a fraction of that number… so the chances of being conscripted seem quite slim.
“But if you put yourself in the shoes of a young Myanmar person in their twenties, you’re not going to take that risk if there’s any way you can avoid it … because the consequences of being recruited are so terrible.”
In Bangkok, many now anxiously wait for news about relatives across the border. Nu, who has worked in the Thai capital since long before the coup, and whose name has been changed, said: “I am very upset about my 23-year-old daughter who remains at home.
“She has to [come to] Thailand as soon as possible. Now the regime in our country is very bad, [it] is very cruel to our people.”
Under the new legislation – which the junta said will be enforced soon after the traditional Thingyan New Year celebration in mid-April – men aged 18 to 35 and women 18 to 27 can be drafted into the armed forces for two years.
An age limit of 45 for men and 35 for women applies in certain professional categories, such as doctors and engineers, and anyone evading conscription will face three to five years in prison.
But the military’s recruitment drive may actually prove to be a boon for their opposition, which has been gaining ground since launching a co-ordinated assault in October. Wathone said:
“Many people are applying [to resistance groups] as they don’t want to be a part of the military dictatorship.
“Instead, they think they will join the PDF [People’s Defence Forces] so that the revolution will be more reinforced.”
Earlier this week Khit Media, an independent news outlet in Myanmar, reported that the Yangon Military Region received more than 2,000 applications to join in fewer than 24 hours. The outlet shared links to more than 30 other resistance groups that have announced recruitment drives. Mr Kean said: “The introduction of conscription shows how desperate the military regime is to hold on to power.
“It seems clear the generals do not intend to seek a negotiated solution and are instead intent on pursuing a military victory.
“As a result, we should expect increased conflict in the months and years ahead, which will severely affect the country’s development and have terrible consequences for the people of Myanmar.”
‘Introducing the draft shows how desperate the military regime is to hold on to power’