According to family members of those arrested, military-appointed administrators and troops jointly arrested nearly twenty young people for forced military service during the Thingyan period in Gyobingauk Township, Thayarwady Township in Bago Region, and Minbu Township in Magway Region. On April 13 at around 6:30 AM, Ko Nay Zaw Min and Ko Zaw Myoe Aung from Thekone village in Gyobingauk Township were arrested by the military while working in Gyobingauk town, following a tip-off from the village administrator.
When family members went to the Gyobingauk Township General Administration Office to negotiate their release with money, the military stationed there denied having the detainees and expelled the families with verbal abuse. Through inquiries with contacts, families learned that the Thetyinkone group administrator had reported the work schedules and clothing descriptions of Ko Nay Zaw Min and Ko Zaw Myoe Aung to facilitate their arrest for military service.
In Thayarwady Township’s Lower Letpankhon group, administrator Tin Soe, hundred-households head Than Soe, Nyaungnikone village hundred-households head Tin Hla, and Letgwe and Walayonbin villages’ hundred-households head Myo Zaw are leading efforts to arrest village youth in cooperation with the military. They arrested Ko Zin Aung from Nyaungnikone village on the night of April 1 and Maung Nwa Gyi from Lower Letpankhon village on the night of April 2, entering their homes to make the arrests. Additionally, administrator Tin Soe is demanding two youth per village monthly for military service from villages within Lower Letpankhon group while collecting between 35,000 to 50,000 kyats per household as military service fees.
In villages south of Minbu town, the military conducted raids on April 13 and arrested nine young people. Local residents report that the whereabouts of these detained youth remain unknown, causing great concern among family members. Activists point out that such forced military recruitment constitutes a human rights violation by the military and breaches international law. The systematic nature of these arrests, involving coordination between military-appointed administrators and troops, demonstrates an organized effort to forcibly conscript young people from rural areas, while simultaneously extorting money from villagers under the guise of military service fees.
