Resistance groups across Myanmar have warned junta officials to halt forcible military recruitment or face severe consequences.
Several regime officials have already been shot dead by resistance forces while attempting to recruit civilians under the newly activated Conscription Law.
The regime has moved quickly to enforce the law since its activation on Feb. 10 – an indication of serious troop shortages amid continuous and heavy losses in the multi-front war with armed revolutionary groups.
Junta-appointed village and ward administrators have been tasked with collecting household lists and selecting those eligible for military service – men aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 35.
The administrators have begun calling up conscripts in large cities, including the junta’s administrative capital Naypyitaw, the commercial capital Yangon, and second city Mandalay.
Expressions of concern among the 14 million people eligible for conscription are getting louder, with many choosing to flee the country rather than serve in a military widely reviled for its atrocities against civilians.
On Tuesday, the Yangon Urban Guerrillas (YUG) and four other local resistance groups warned of severe punishment for anyone who contributed to enforcing conscription in the city. Their statement described the Conscription Law as a brazen violation of human rights.
The local People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Yangon’s Hmawbi Township, where several junta battalions are based, also urged residents to report the names of administrators running the conscription drive.
In Mandalay, 12 urban resistance groups said they had received numerous reports from civilians that junta administrators and immigration chiefs in seven townships were extorting potential conscripts.
The Conscription Law has been turned into an extortion racket, the groups said on Sunday, threatening recruitment officials with punishment.
On Tuesday, the Wundwin Township Revolution Force (WTRF) said it had shot dead U Maung Pu, an official tasked with conscripting residents of Thee Kone village in Mandalay’s Wundwin Township.
The group said it also seized a pistol from the victim.
In Bago Region, Thayawady District PDF Battalion said its Nat Sithe unit shot dead former village administrator U Soe Lay, a pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia leader, for running conscription in Nattalin Township’s Pyin Pon village. Fellow conscription official U Ye Aung escaped during the attack on Monday, the resistance unit said.
In Magwe Region, the Salin PDF claimed responsibility for shooting dead administrator U Myint Htoo on Monday night as he used a loudspeaker to drum up conscripts in Salin Township’s Pakhat Taing village.
The group said it also seized a homemade pistol and radio phone from the victim.
The ethnic Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), part of the Brotherhood Alliance that has seized seven towns in northern Shan State, warned Tuesday of severe action against junta-appointed administrators caught conscripting civilians.
The ethnic army said it had received reports from residents of forced recruitment by junta officials in Mongmit, Lashio, Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Nawngkhio in Shan State and Mogok in upper Mandalay Region.
The Arakan Army (AA) said Wednesday that the junta had used Rohingya conscripts to defend three Light Infantry Battalion headquarters in Rathedaung Township, Rakhine State last week.
The AA released what it said were photos of dead Rohingya conscripts along with bodies of junta troops killed when it seized all three battalions.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday voiced concern over reports of detention and recruitment of civilians, including Rohingya, highlighting the potential impact of forced conscription on human rights and the social fabric in Myanmar.
