At the Central Committee Meeting 2/2025 of the People’s Military Service Call-up in Naypyidaw, General Kyaw Swar Lin, the military council’s third-highest ranking leader, announced plans to conduct regular military training programs for youth across Myanmar. As both the military’s tri-service coordination chief and vice-chairman of the Central Committee for People’s Military Service Call-up, he claimed these training programs would improve national defense capabilities and security measures for the country.
The military council has been conducting monthly military training programs since April 2024, now reaching its 15th batch. According to families of conscripted youth, young people across the country are being forcibly recruited through arrests, coercion, and threats. With the military council’s announcement of regularizing these training programs, CDM military circles assess that arrests and forced conscription of youth will likely increase. Parents and relatives of conscripted youth have reported to local media about widespread cases of forced recruitment and intimidation tactics being used against young people throughout the country.
Defense Minister General Maung Maung Aye, who chairs the Central Committee for People’s Military Service Call-up, disclosed that they are implementing a National Service Information Management System (NSIMS). He stated that the central committee is carefully reviewing and approving exemptions, reductions, and postponements submitted by the Naypyidaw Council and state/regional military service call-up committees. He emphasized that those granted postponements will be systematically recorded, and strict measures will be implemented to ensure 100% recall when required. The military council’s systematic approach to tracking deferrals and postponements indicates an intention to maintain long-term control over potential conscripts through detailed documentation and management systems.
