Myanmar: Young men live in fear of being snatched
Young men in Myanmar live in fear of being snatched from streets for forced military service as junta conscription hits 100,000 recruits.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Young men in Hpa-An, Karen state, avoid going out after dark due to forced recruitment patrols.
- The Myanmar junta enforces mandatory conscription to replenish troop losses against armed resistance.
- Reports reveal widespread abductions, extortion, and human supply chains operated by local officials.
- Human rights monitors and open-source data point to a sharp spike in missing person cases.
Staying out after dark has become a dangerous gamble for able-bodied young men in Hpa-An, the capital of Myanmar's southern Karen state. In recent months, locals report that plain-clothed supporters and members of the Myanmar junta have roamed the streets, arbitrarily detaining teenagers and men in their 20s and 30s to force them into military service.
Leaked documents obtained by BBC Burmese indicate that local authorities were ordered to aggressively meet recruitment quotas across jurisdictions, helping the regime rebuild its ranks amidst an ongoing war of attrition against ethnic militias, pro-democracy groups, and civilian resistance forces.
Zaw Min, the only sibling of recruitment age in his household, notes that many peers have fled to Thailand or distant relatives. Those remaining follow strict parental orders to return home before dusk.
The civil war escalated following the February 2021 military coup led by the army against democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Three years later, facing heavy battlefield losses and soaring desertion rates, the junta introduced mandatory conscription requiring men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve at least two years, with refusal carrying a prison sentence of up to five years.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
"represents one of the most severe and impactful actions taken against the entire civilian population since the military coup"
Maj Naung Yoe, military affairs official at the Myanmar Defense and Security Institute (MDSI)
Hpa-An is the latest area caught in a dragnet that has snared an estimated 100,000 young recruits over the past two-and-a-half years through coercion, extortion, and abduction.
The junta's aggressive enforcement of mandatory conscription highlights a desperate bid to sustain its armed forces amid territorial losses to resistance groups. By establishing an internal human supply chain through local administrators and proxies, the regime has managed to claw back ground, though these extreme measures continue to fuel civilian terror and underground evasion.
The plight is exemplified by Ma Moe San Pan from Yangon, whose 33-year-old husband Phyo Wai was last seen on 8 May 2025 before being sent to a military recruitment center. A local ward administrator admitted involvement in the transfer, while Ma Moe San Pan lost 4.5 million kyats to fraudsters falsely promising his release.
Although she filed police reports regarding the illicit conscription and financial scam, authorities refused to register human trafficking charges, asserting that such crimes only apply if an individual is sold abroad. Her husband's current whereabouts remain unknown.
Source: BBC World
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