Two young men were deceived and forcibly recruited into a military training camp after responding to a job advertisement for security personnel at the Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone in Hlaing Tharyar Township, Yangon Region. The position had advertised a monthly salary of 510,000 kyats. Friends of the detained young men have detailed the incident to local media, revealing the military’s deceptive recruitment tactics.
Maung Zaw Htet Lin and Maung Ye Naung, both 25 years old from Thanatpin Township in Bago Region, contacted the phone number listed on a job advertisement for security personnel at the Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone in Hlaing Tharyar. After being instructed to come to Yangon, they arrived on May 4th to apply for the position. However, they disappeared that evening, becoming unreachable by phone or other means of communication.
On May 8th, Zaw Htet Lin and Ye Naung managed to inform their families that they had been taken to the Danyin Gone military recruitment camp in Insein Township. Prior to traveling to Hlaing Tharyar, they had been required to send their personal information and photographs via Viber. Upon arrival in Hlaing Tharyar, two men in civilian clothing arrived on motorcycles to pick them up, subsequently transferring them to a hired vehicle that transported them to the Danyin Gone recruitment camp.
The victims’ mobile phones were confiscated, and it wasn’t until May 8th that they were able to contact their families by paying to use a soldier’s phone at the camp. The two young men are scheduled to attend the 13th intake of military training beginning this month. Friends of the detained individuals have warned others to be cautious of similar deceptive recruitment tactics that use security job offerings as a front for forced military recruitment. This incident highlights the ongoing practice of forced recruitment by the military, using false job advertisements to target young people seeking employment opportunities.
