Myanmar youths flee to Thailand to escape military draft of 5,000 monthly
Dozens of young Myanmar nationals have been arrested in Thailand’s border province of Tak, apparently fleeing compulsory military conscription that now also includes women.
Soldiers from the Ratchamanu Taskforce, based in Tak’s Mae Sot district, on Friday arrested 27 young Myanmar nationals – 13 men and 14 women – near a stream in Phop Phra district.
The youths said they had travelled from Myawaddy, a Myanmar city across the border from Tak’s Mae Sot district. With the help of human smugglers, they managed to enter Thailand through a natural path along the porous border area.
Earlier this week, 27 young Myanmar nationals – 11 men and 16 women – were caught by the border taskforce while they were hiding in a forest in Tak’s Phop Phra district.
Five border districts of the northern province are not far from large Myanmar towns with good transportation to the border area.
To increase the number of troops fighting armed opposition groups, Myanmar’s junta is enforcing a law that allows the military to summon all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years. Its rule is facing growing opposition as pro-democracy protests have turned into widespread armed resistance.
The junta announced recently that the law – authored by a previous junta in 2010 but never brought into force – would be enforced from February 10. Under a directive issued by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 could face up to five years in prison if they refuse military service.
Junta spokesman, Maj-General Zaw Min Tun, said that starting in April, about 5,000 people each month will be enrolled in the military to perform “national defence duties,” Radio Free Asia reported on Thursday. The spokesman told several junta-affiliated newspapers that as many as 50,000 men will be recruited this year into the military, which has suffered numerous battlefield defeats and large-scale surrenders in recent months.
A Myanmar national, identifying himself as U Wey, said on Friday that the “illegitimate” compulsory conscription would force many young people to cross the border to find jobs in Thailand. He voiced concern about their safety if those youths were sent back to Myanmar.
