Myanmar’s military regime has denied reports that university students must suspend their studies for two years to serve in the army, but fears persist among students and parents.
Earlier this month, a panic broke out when rumors said that young men selected in conscription lotteries must serve in the army even if they are registered university students, and those drawing numbers under 100 would be called up within three months.
Conscripts are selected randomly at ward levels by drawing lots from a box. Those with smaller numbers are drafted first, and those with larger numbers later.
In Mandalay, even high school students who just turned 18 were forced to participate in the conscription lottery last month, according to parents.
“High school students were also told to draw lots. I drew on my son’s behalf and got a large number, over 500,” said a mother from Mandalay. “But we are still really scared because of reports that university students would be called up.”
In denying the rumors, the regime’s central conscription committee this week cited Article 15 (a)(3) of the Conscription Law, which allows deferment for students in education. It said official newspapers “repeatedly stressed this point.”
But concerns persist as township administrative offices in regime-controlled areas including major cities like Naypyitaw, Yangon and Mandalay have called in lists of university and high school students, apparently separating out those with spectacles, health problems, disabilities or on long‑term medication.
In August, the regime centralized the draft, with regional and district authorities taking over management from township and lower-level conscription offices. Since early September, a new wave of lotteries have been held in wards and villages across Mandalay but not yet in Yangon.
“Ward offices summon us according to lists from the Population Department,” one young man said. “Everyone aged 18 to 35 including students must draw. In our ward alone, over 40 students were included. One 12th grader drew a number under 100, but officials said high school students would be granted temporary deferment.”
Previously, families with eligible young men could pay a monthly fee to the authorities for deferment, in theory so someone else could be paid to take their place. But the regime abolished the substitution fee in September, declaring that all those selected must serve in order of their lottery numbers.
The department also denied reports that ward offices are confiscating ID cards and smart cards of selected youths, requiring monthly check‑ins, and demanding parents sign pledges to prevent their sons’ escape.
A Mandalay conscription official told The Irrawaddy that the process strictly follows laws and regulations.
“Students who can prove they are genuinely enrolled, with proper documents and forms, are granted temporary deferment,” the official said.
According to the 2019 census, nearly 13 million people are eligible for conscription under the Conscription Law—6.3 million men and 7.7 million women. So far, about 140,000 men have been called up by the regime, assuming that around 5,000 recruits are drafted per batch.
When the long-dormant Conscription Law was revived in 2024, it forced a mass exodus of young people, and the regime has since been struggling to meet its quotas despite barring eligible men from working abroad and even snatching young men from streets and homes.
In Yangon, an eerie quiet descends after 8 p.m. as regime-backed thugs prowl the streets on the hunt for eligible young men to abduct, a practice that has swiftly degenerated into a black economy of kidnappings for ransom.