28 Apr 2025 By Ko Paing / MPA
Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) has called on neighboring countries to protect young people fleeing forced military conscription, warning that the junta’s recruitment campaign constitutes a form of forced labor and human trafficking.
In a report released Monday titled “Forced Conscription: The Realities of Forced Military Service in Myanmar,” the NUG’s Ministry of Human Rights described the junta’s mandatory draft of citizens aged 18 to 35 as a military strategy that could amount to a crime against humanity.
The report urged the United Nations, ASEAN member states, and the broader international community to impose stronger economic sanctions and enforce an arms embargo — including restrictions on aviation fuel — to halt the junta’s escalating abuses.
A political activist based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot told MPA, a local news agency, that Myanmar nationals arrested in countries like Thailand and India are often deported back to the military regime.
“Among the returnees, those who cannot afford to pay bribes are sent directly into military service,” the activist said. “Instead of offering protection, neighboring countries are, in effect, aiding the junta’s recruitment efforts.”
According to the report, young people have been seized from their homes, workplaces, and roadside checkpoints, with the junta employing intimidation, coercion, and outright abduction to fill its ranks. Among those conscripted are minors and individuals with physical or mental disabilities, the ministry said.
The report also documented cases in which families were extorted for money in exchange for removing names from conscription lists, underscoring the widespread abuse tied to the junta’s military mobilization.
