Increasingly-aggressive soldiers are going door to door in Mandalay telling residents of the country’s second-largest city that if they are young enough to be drafted into the junta’s military they are no longer allowed to leave and that if they try to dodge the draft their closest family members will be arrested and jailed, residents of the city say.
The junta began tightening its grip on the people of Mandalay as reports surfaced earlier this month that the number of young people joining anti-regime People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) began rising after the junta banned men between 23 and 32 years of age from working outside the country.
Junta soldiers, allied Pyu Saw Htee militia members and administrative staff are making surprise checks on homes in the city day and night, residents say, adding that they are also targeting migrant workers and those displaced by fighting by stopping and interrogating people on the streets.
Junta soldiers have been going door to door since May, quizzing families about the information on their household registration certificates, which say how many people live in a home and what their sex and age are.
A resident of Pyigyitagun Township described threats made during a surprise visit by junta troops: “When they came to my house, they told us to show the household registration certificate. They counted the people. If everyone registered on the certificate is not present, they ask many questions, like where are they now and why have they left the family?”
The Pyigyitagun Township resident said all four of the family’s children are within the age range of the draft, adding: “They told us to make sure all four children do not leave the city and that family members will be arrested and jailed if they do.”
Checks have been tightened on people entering and leaving Mandalay City to make sure people of eligible for the draft do not leave, residents said.
A resident of Patheingyi Township’s also said threats were made during a surprise visit, saying: “My daughter and son have been working away from home for long. My neighbors know this. But [junta soldiers] said they are eligible for conscription and registered their names. They told us to take my children back home when they are called up [for military service]. They threatened to arrest and jail my children for evading conscription if they don’t return [to Mandalay].”
The national conscription law was activated by the military junta on Feb. 10. It allows the military to draft all men 18-35 and women 18-27 to serve in the military for two to five years. The first batch of about 5,000 conscripts started military training in March. Training for the second batch began on Monday. It is not clear how many young men were drafted for the second batch.
The regime did not inform local administrators about its surprise visits on households in Mandalay City because some administrators had evaded registering draft-age people in their wards and villages for the second batch. The surprise visits are overseen by a lieutenant-colonel, a source in the junta’s Mandalay City administration told The Irrawaddy. Local administrators are also barred from travelling [outside the city], the source said on condition of anonymity.
“Some administrators evaded the task of registering draft-age people for the second batch of conscripts, so the regime is registering them itself,” the source said, adding that the junta is trying to prevent young people from leaving Mandalay to stop them from joining PDFs.
Administrators monitor households checked by junta security personnel and phone them periodically to ask if draft-age people remain in the homes, according to residents.
Junta-installed Mandalay Region government spokesman Thein Htay denied the reports, telling The Irrawaddy that young people have not been told that they are not allowed to leave Mandalay.
Administrators said the regime told them to help conscript about 150 men in Patheingyi Township and 120 more in Maha Aungmyay Township for the second batch.
Some administrators, however, have turned the conscription law into a windfall. They reportedly request monthly payments from residents saying they will use it to help those conscripted make ends meet, but line their own pockets with the cash instead. They also ask money from well-off families with draft-age children to help them evade conscription.
