In Wundwin Township, Mandalay Region, the military forces have conducted mass arrests of young people, demanding ransom payments and forcing them into military service, according to local residents. On May 2, the military arrested nearly 200 young people in a single day, including those who had come to the town market and youth from surrounding villages. The arrested individuals were taken to the General Administration Office, where their families were demanded to pay between 5 million and 10 million kyats (approximately USD 2,500-5,000) for their release. Those whose families cannot afford the ransom are being forcibly recruited into military service.
According to local residents, military council troops have intensified their operations, conducting house-to-house searches in villages and arresting motorcycle riders traveling in pairs. Families of the detained youth are struggling to pay the substantial ransoms to secure their children’s release. Those who cannot afford the payments are being sent to Artillery Battalion 113 in Meiktila for forced military recruitment. The military council’s actions have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in the region, with families desperately seeking ways to protect their young members from arbitrary arrest and forced conscription.
The military council is scheduled to open its 13th batch of military service training this May, continuing a practice that began in May of the previous year. These forced recruitments and arbitrary arrests constitute violations of international law and human rights conventions. The situation has placed an enormous burden on local communities, who must either pay exorbitant ransoms or face the prospect of their young family members being forced into military service. The practice of demanding ransoms and forcing military service represents a systematic pattern of exploitation and human rights violations by the military council, causing severe distress among the civilian population who are struggling to protect their youth from these predatory practices.
