Junta Intensifies Forced Recruitment Drive in Tanintharyi as Territorial Losses Mount

May 2, 2025

As the military junta continues to lose control of territory across the country, it has launched a desperate and increasingly aggressive campaign to forcibly conscript young men. In Tanintharyi Region, local sources confirm that junta forces are detaining youths under the pretense of enrolling them in the People’s Military Service Training Batch 13.

From Dawei District to the southernmost town of Kawthaung, young men are being taken from their homes, workplaces, and even roadside checkpoints. The roundups appear systematic and well-coordinated, with detainees quickly transported to military training schools.

On May 1, 2025, one of the most visible incidents occurred when approximately 18 young men, aged between 20 and 30, were arrested at a military checkpoint near the entrance to Palaw Town in Myeik District. Witnesses described junta troops—some in civilian clothes, others in uniform—stopping passersby, interrogating them, and forcibly detaining those they deemed eligible for conscription.

Four military vehicles arrived at the Kyauksu checkpoint, operated by the General Administration Department, police, and junta soldiers. Between 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., these young men, mostly from Ward 4, with several from Wards 2 and 3, were detained. At least 11 were taken to the Palaw Township Police Station, while four others were reportedly released due to health conditions or payment of bribes.

Those held are now expected to be transported by boat to the military’s combat mobilization training center in Shwe Du Village, Myeik Township. This marks the first large-scale forced recruitment from a township entry checkpoint in the region.

The junta-run Advanced Combat Training School No. 12 in Palaw is said to be receiving not only recruits from Palaw but also young men from other parts of Tanintharyi. Previously, the junta relied on neighborhood-level quotas, but over the past five weeks, the strategy has shifted to targeting random individuals at checkpoints, markets, and bridges.

On March 16, similar arrests were reported in Dawei Township at Kamyawkin Bridge and Byaw Taw, where six young men were taken without notice.

According to local human rights monitors, Training Batch 12 is still underway, and the junta is now aggressively recruiting for Batch 13. The conscription law has become a tool of repression, violating the rights and freedoms of young people.

“This isn’t about national defense,” said a 40-year-old human rights educator and monitor. “This law is being used to throw our youth into a war the junta is losing. Their freedom of choice, movement, and dignity are being stripped away. Families are being extorted, children are being threatened, and even those with physical or mental disabilities are being pulled into the system.”

In Palaw, fear has taken hold. Many young men are afraid to leave home or go to work, knowing that they could be detained at any moment. Families are left with impossible choices: pay bribes they can’t afford or risk losing their sons to forced conscription. The psychological toll is immense.

Across the country, junta troops are losing ground to ethnic resistance forces and the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs). As casualties mount and desertions increase, the junta appears to be compensating through mass forced recruitment.

This growing wave of arbitrary arrests and conscription in Tanintharyi reflects a regime that is becoming more repressive by the day. As more families lose their sons and more communities are subjected to fear and exploitation, the call for international attention and meaningful intervention becomes more urgent.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News