Myanmar's young men face risk of forced military service

Young men in Hpa-An, the capital of Myanmar's southern Karen state, avoid staying out after dark due to fears of being abducted and forced into military service. Zaw Min, a 26-year-old tuk tuk driver, continues to work despite the danger, as his family urges him to remain vigilant.

Local residents report that plain-clothed members and supporters of the Myanmar junta have been roaming the streets, arbitrarily arresting young people in their teens, 20s, and 30s and forcing them into military service. Leaked documents seen by BBC Burmese indicate authorities have been ordered to aggressively fulfill military recruitment quotas.

The junta enacted a mandatory conscription law requiring all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve at least two years in the military. Those who refuse face up to five years in prison. Maj Naung Yoe, a former military officer who defected, described the law as one of the most severe actions against the civilian population since the 2021 coup.

Hpa-An is the latest area affected by a recruitment dragnet that has reportedly ensnared an estimated 100,000 young recruits over the past two-and-a-half years. Security forces are said to track young people's movements to arrest them, extort money through threats of detention, and arrest individuals during guest-list inspections.

International rights groups claim the Myanmar military is abducting civilians and forcing them into military service. Open-source research by Myanmar Witness found that missing-person advertisements on Facebook increased from four in 2021 to 82 in 2025, indicating a surge in abductions. Most of the reported missing individuals are men and boys.

Ma Moe San Pan, a woman in Yangon, recounted how her 33-year-old husband, Phyo Wai, was sold to another ward by local officials to meet a recruitment quota. She was scammed out of 4.5 million kyats by strangers who falsely promised his release. The police accepted her complaint but refused to register it as a human trafficking case, citing the requirement for international involvement.