Mon Youth Targeted in Junta’s Batch No. 14 Conscription Drive Using Fear and Petty Charges

June 20, 2025

HURFOM: Across Mon State, fear is growing as the junta steps up its forced recruitment campaign under Batch No. 14 of military training. According to HURFOM’s field reporters, youth in townships like Thanbyuzayat, Mawlamyine, and Mudon are being rounded up and sent to military camps—many without formal charges, legal process, or even explanation to their families.

These individuals are not convicted criminals or armed combatants. Most are ordinary young people: students, plantation workers, shop assistants, or daily wage earners striving to get by. In some villages, such as Ah Bit, Kyun Ywa, and Lat Tat in Mudon Township, young men were accused of drug use without any medical testing—no urine or blood samples were taken. Others were stopped for minor traffic infractions, such as riding motorcycles without helmets or licenses. And some were merely walking home when joint military-police patrols apprehended them.

A worrying trend reported by HURFOM field reporters is that those unable to afford bribes or negotiate with the Junta security troops were taken without further notice. Families were left in the dark, not knowing if their sons had been jailed, sent to military training camps, or worse. This pattern is no longer isolated. It’s widespread in Mon State, and it’s scaring youth into hiding.

According to a 28-year-old male resident of Mudon, this wave of conscription began in mid-May 2025, when the Junta started aggressively stopping suspected unlicensed vehicles across townships. Dozens of motorcycles were seized, and drivers without proper documentation were swept up.

“They stopped bikes without licenses,” said one local. “If your family didn’t bring money fast enough, you were taken. They’d say, ‘Go to the army, or go to prison.’ It wasn’t a choice, it was a threat.”
Another man added: “They didn’t even wait at authorized checkpoints. If you drove near a military base and they suspected that your bike wasn’t registered, they’d pull you over. Some youth were paid and released. Others disappeared.”

Families told HURFOM that in many cases, there were no official charges, no phone calls, and no legal recourse. People were simply told, “They’ve been sent for basic military training, but no one knew where, or for how long.”

The Mon State Junta’s approach has shifted dangerously from law enforcement to outright exploitation. Even vehicles with minor paperwork issues, such as expired licenses or missing documents, were used as pretexts to stop, arrest, and conscript young people. In villages with known resistance activity, security forces reportedly even entered homes in search of recruits.

“This isn’t about the law anymore,” said a 55-year-old male local from Mawlamyine. “It’s about fear. They want to fill their army by any means—even if it means abducting our sons.”

For many Mon residents, these tactics serve two main goals. As one 40-year-old Mudon man explained: “First, it’s about extortion. Poor families are targeted because they can’t pay bribes. Second, they need soldiers. They’re turning traffic stops into a recruiting drive. This is about desperation, not Justice.”

HURFOM has also learned that this pattern is driving more young people into hiding. In Thanbyuzayat, Mudon, Kyaikmayaw, Paung, Mawlamyine, and Bilin Townships, young people are disappearing from public spaces. Some have left their villages entirely. Schools have seen drops in attendance. Families are keeping a low profile, fearing the next knock on their door.

One 53-year-old lawyer from Hpa-an, Karen State, who has closely monitored the issue and asked to remain anonymous, told HURFOM:

“What the junta is doing with these forced recruitments is a clear violation of international law. Arbitrary arrest and detention without due process—especially for military conscription—violates basic rights protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), even though Myanmar hasn’t ratified it. It still represents a global standard.

Recruiting children or youth under 18 is even more serious. Myanmar signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child. That treaty—and its Optional Protocol—strictly forbids conscripting anyone under 18. Even one underage case is a significant breach. And let’s not forget that international humanitarian law also prohibits this under customary rules.

It’s deeply troubling that minor traffic violations or baseless suspicions are now being used as excuses to force young people into the military. It just doesn’t make sense.”

HURFOM has documented that at least 2,380 young people have already been forcibly recruited by the Junta’s Southeast Command and Coastal Regiment Command in Mon and Dawei regions. They were students, workers, and sons who simply wanted to go to school, earn a living, or care for their families. In Mon State alone, up to 155 young people were conscripted under Batch No. 13. Most were native to Mon State, while a few were members of migrant families who had relocated from other regions. This wave of forced recruitment has devastated many communities and left families in fear and uncertainty.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News