Families across Yangon are expressing heightened alarm as Myanmar regime authorities intensify enforcement of its mandatory conscription law, stripping away deferment provisions previously granted to university students.
Enforced since February 10, 2024, under the official title of the “People’s Military Service Law,” the draft mandates up to two years of active service for males aged 18 to 35 and females aged 18 to 27. Specialized professionals, such as medical doctors aged up to 45, face extended terms of up to three years, with draft evasion carrying penalties of up to five years in prison.
While typical bachelor’s degree programs in arts, sciences, and commerce take four years—and specialized degrees in law, engineering, agriculture, and medicine require five to seven years—regime authorities in Yangon are no longer allowing enrolled students to defer their military service until graduation.
One university student, speaking anonymously, shared plans to seek work in Japan after completing his degree, voicing deep anxiety over being drafted before he can finish his studies and leave the country.
The policy shift has created widespread fear among students and parents navigating urban areas.
Parents in Yangon report that even after paying substantial bribes to ward administrators to secure temporary deferment, they fear their children could still be seized during arbitrary street inspections or targeted raids while commuting to classes.
On Oct. 11, international reports detailed growing accounts of abduction, extortion, and young men being sold into recruitment networks to fulfill mandatory quotas.
Vulnerable and impoverished families, unable to afford bribe payments, bear the brunt of these forced recruitments. The physical toll and rapid deployment of forced recruits are reflected in recent battlefield reports.
According to People’s Goal—a civil society organization formed by defectors from the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM)—22 regime soldiers surrendered or were captured during clashes with resistance forces across Myanmar in the first week of October alone.
Seventeen of those captured were recent conscripts drafted under the 2024 law, with the remaining five being pre-conscription military personnel.
Despite widespread public resistance, the regime continues to push forward with its recruitment schedule, with regime media confirming that the 29th intake of new military conscripts commenced training at military depots across the country on Oct. 11.
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