When I was 17, I received a letter from the Norwegian military requiring me to complete the first step of my compulsory military service. All this entailed was filling out a survey including questions about my physical activity and health, academic standing, and motivation to join the military for førstegangstjeneste. Given the large pool of candidates (my year was the first to include women), this survey was used to select those who would serve. 

Already in the midst of planning my travel and studies for the next year, never did it cross my mind to consider what would happen if the Norwegian military would not accept my “0/10” desire to participate in the military, if it had not even allowed me the chance to express that desire, or if we had been at war. As I have worked with PYO to figure out how to best support vulnerable populations in Myanmar, I have been confronted with these questions and a deeper consideration of the right to refuse to fight.

On February 10, the Burmese military (aka SAC, the State Administration Council) announced that it was enacting the country’s conscription law and would begin drafting the first batch of 5,000 young men in March. The SAC followed up the announcement with a campaign, including rallies and pro-junta propaganda, to attract new ranks and boost the troops’ plummeting morale after months of losing ground to resistance fighters.

Myanmar’s conscription law requires men aged 18-35 and women 18-27 to serve for at least 2-7 years, and evasion is punishable by 3-5 years imprisonment and fines. The SAC announced that it would draft 4 batches of 5,000 men before conscripting women in the fifth group, and in April, it claimed that over 10,000 people had already enlisted voluntarily. Evidence of forced recruitment methods and changes in the SAC’s plan to now draft women in batch 3, however, indicate that the campaign has been far from successful. In fact, HURFOM estimates that under 5% of conscripts are volunteers.

The jungle around Chiang Mai, similar to the jungle people trek through to cross the border

Those with means began applying to study and work abroad; two days after the campaign started, two people were killed in a stampede at the Mandalay passport office.  After the SAC banned men from leaving the country for work in May, however, growing numbers have sought to escape by illegal means, frequently by crossing the Thai border. Some see no choice but to pick up arms – just not those of the junta – and have joined resistance groups who have welcomed them. Some resistance groups have even pursued their own forced recruitment, both in competition with the military and, among allies, to support it.

Not everyone can leave so easily, though, and many fear the consequences of doing so. The SAC’s methods of recruitment include both carrot and stick beyond the law. They have advertised offers of job security and pay while also threatening to “beat to death” those who refused to join and “drive away like dogs” the families of those who flee.

The conscription campaign has also had ripple effects across the society and economy. It has increased internal conflict between administrators and resistance groups who have threatened anyone fulfilling orders relating to conscription, already resulting in several deaths. The military has strategically targeted areas with existing ethnic tension and vulnerability, notably the Rohingya in Rakhine state. Even in the military-controlled areas, the exodus of young people has created labor shortages, further exacerbating labor exploitation and filling gaps with child labor.

These effects are expansive, and demand a wide range of actions – not least from the international community, as this Diplomat article calls for. As a result, PYO and other CSOs are focusing on sharing information regarding forced recruitment and displacement, providing aid to IDPs, and supporting safehouses near the Thai-Myanmar border.

In the coming weeks, I will be supporting this work by interviewing people who have escaped conscription by coming to Thailand. We aim to compile a report detailing these individuals’ experiences and the effects of conscription to increase pressure on the junta and inform the international community. As we conduct this project, I will delve deeper into some of these issues in my blog posts, so stay tuned to learn more about conscription and the experiences and perspectives of young people.

A T-shirt-turned-poster for the office from Lose and Hope, the Karenni film from my last post