The military council is continuing forced recruitment in Yangon, Tanintharyi, and Ayeyarwady Regions due to insufficient numbers for the 11th batch of military service recruits. On March 5 around 10 AM, military forces and local administrators attempted to arrest five young men for military service near the former Gate 86 bus stop in Mingala Housing in Ward 20 of Hlaing Tharyar Township, Yangon Region. However, the young men managed to escape in time through back alleys. This incident caused significant concern among residents in the ward.
Two brothers who went missing in March from Ward 9 of Hlaing Tharyar Township were later found at a recruitment camp in Shan State. They were tricycle drivers who had previously served as auxiliary firefighters. In Thingangyun Township’s Aung Myar Ward, the military council has been summoning families of youth working abroad to the ward office, threatening them with the Military Service Law and demanding money. Similar incidents have been reported across multiple townships where young people are being forcibly recruited or families are being extorted under the pretext of military service requirements.
In Tanintharyi Region’s Palaw Township, five youths were arrested during house-to-house searches on March 4. Two more young men on motorcycles were detained at the bridge checkpoint entering Palaw town. On March 5, three additional youths were arrested near the police station on the road leading to Yangon from Palaw. In Ayeyarwady Region’s Hinthada Township, specifically in Dhambi Sinma Thae village, administrator Aung Win Myint has been ordering police to arrest young people who haven’t paid military service fees, forcing many to flee. He has been demanding 100,000 kyats from each young person in the village. These ongoing forced recruitment efforts and extortion practices have created an atmosphere of fear and instability in these regions, with many young people going into hiding to avoid being pressed into military service.
