Weekly Analysis: Forced Conscription Taking a Devastating Toll on Communities in Southeastern Burma

August 18, 2025

Over the past week, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has documented several cases revealing the junta’s forced conscription efforts, leaving families distressed as they face the grim reality of their children being taken away to fight a war that has caused chaos and uncertainty. Young men and women fear they have lost their futures and have no choice in the fate that awaits them.

Across Mon State, thousands of young people have been swept into the Junta’s People’s Military Service through intimidation, manipulation, and outright force. Many are now trapped in frontline battles, used as human shields in reinforcement operations. Locals say the urgent need for manpower to carry out ground attacks is driving this unlawful exploitation of Mon youths.

On August 13, the Junta’s Mon State Chief Minister U Aung Kyi Thein, along with state ministers and Southeastern Command officials, visited newly arrived conscripts from across the state at the Township Basic Training School in Mawlamyine. These young men and women are part of the 16th Batch of the People’s Military Service training. According to residents, most had little choice but to comply once targeted by local administrators and conscription committees.

“They’re increasing troop numbers to secure their planned election later this year,” said a resident of Thanbyuzayat Township. “It’s not just for polling places — they’re also filling the frontlines. As the election gets closer, recruitment is constant, day and night. They don’t slow down.”

Since June of this year, ward and village administrators have been working with township conscription committees to register all eligible youths. Residents report that summons letters are now arriving, with instructions to report to the township General Administration Department offices.

“Youth of service age must register. They check if you’re abroad or studying. They even make you sign pledges to vote,” explained a Kyaikmayaw Township resident. “Once the letter comes, you have to go. There’s no choice.”

For those who resist, the consequences are severe. Personal data stored in the administrative system makes evasion nearly impossible — house lockdowns, arrest warrants, detention, and steep “replacement fees” of between 6 and 10 million kyat are imposed. Parents, already struggling under economic hardship, face impossible decisions: pay, send their children to war, or flee.

The forced conscription law, enacted on February 10, 2024, orders men aged 18–35 and women aged 18–27 to serve. It also bans eligible youths from leaving the country and restricts passport changes under secret directives. Acting President Min Aung Hlaing has further tightened control by granting regional commanders full administrative and judicial powers in 63 townships, including Mon State, for up to 90 days — powers that residents fear are being abused to justify mass recruitment.

In resistance-controlled areas, the situation is equally dire. As the Junta launches counteroffensives and airstrikes, young people are arrested in raids and sent directly to training camps. More and more are risking dangerous, illegal border crossings into Thailand to escape, while others hide in Ethnic Resistance Organization-controlled territories.

“These are our sons and daughters,” said a mother from Mudon Township. “They should be in school or building their futures, not carrying weapons for a regime that is destroying our communities. This law has stolen our children’s safety, our family stability, and our hope.”

Overview of Main Cases

Two Detainees Released After Paying Ransom to Junta forces; One Young Man Forcibly Sent to Military Training
The climate of fear and extortion under the junta’s forced conscription law continues to devastate young people. On June 21, three men accused of drug use were arrested by junta troops at a betel nut plantation in Kyoe Tha Dar Village, near Maw Ka Nin Village, Ye Township, Mon State. They were taken to the Mawlamyine-based Southeast Military Command.

The soldiers informed the detainees that those able to pay a ransom would be freed, while those unable to do so would be sent to military training as conscripts.

Junta Intensifies Preparations for Sham Election in Mon State, Deploying Militias and Tightening Security
HURFOM field reports confirm that the junta has accelerated its preparations for a planned sham election, forming ward- and village-level election sub-commissions across Mon State.

These committees are being assembled under the direct supervision of township, district, and state-level authorities loyal to the regime, working from the junta’s basic administrative structures.

Local sources in the Mon State General Administration Department (GAD) say these commissions are being populated with individuals handpicked by the Junta: military-appointed officials, members of the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), retired civil servants, and department staff known to be regime supporters.

Fifteen Displaced Men Arbitrarily Arrested by Junta Troops in Theinzayat Town, Kyaikhto Township
On the morning of 9 August 2025, junta forces arrested fifteen displaced men sheltering at the “Lo Yar Phyae Social Assistance Office” in Theinzayat Town, Kyaikhto Township, Mon State.

Local residents reported that the arrests took place at around 10:00 AM, when a joint column of approximately thirty junta troops stormed the compound.

“When the military trucks arrived, everyone was terrified. No one dared to step outside to see what was happening. The soldiers then picked out fifteen men from among the displaced people and took them away,” said a Theinzayat resident.