Local residents in Danubyu Township, Ayeyarwady Region, report that the military and administrative authorities are collecting lists of young people approaching 18 years of age in urban wards and village tracts. These authorities are demanding money through threats, claiming that individuals become eligible for military service upon turning 18. Currently, they have increased the military service fees for those aged 18-35, demanding between 150,000 to 200,000 kyats per military service period.
In Danubyu Township, the Township Military Service Recruitment Committee, in collaboration with local authorities, is compiling new lists of youth approaching 18 years of age, in addition to those already eligible for military service. The service fees have escalated from tens of thousands to current demands of 150,000 to 200,000 kyats monthly from every household with eligible youth. Local residents are forced to sell or pawn their possessions to meet these payment demands.
In Wards 4, 7, and 8 of Danubyu town, authorities claim that due to the lower youth population and consequently lower military service fee collection, they are demanding up to 400,000 kyats monthly from each household with young people. They threaten to immediately send youth to military training camps if families fail to pay. The military service fees are being shared between the Township Military Service Recruitment Committee and local administrative bodies, with complaints about these practices going unaddressed.
Similarly, in Nyaung-U Township, Mandalay Region, the military is demanding between 15 million and 30 million kyats per village as military service fees. In Bontaw village of the Taungzin village tract, local administrators and their team members are collecting millions of kyats from each household, with villages required to pay between 15 million and 30 million kyats to the military as service fees.
