The junta announced it had recruited nearly 240 young men in Mon State for conscription batch 17.

On September 12, newly conscripted young men, recruited both forcibly and voluntarily, were met by junta-appointed Mon State Chief Minister U Aung Kyi Thein in Mawlamyine, the state capital and headquarters of the junta’s Southeastern Regional Command.

The newly conscripted youths included those drafted by junta-appointed community administrators, those abducted at night, those detained for violating the ban on two men riding together on a motorcycle, and those arrested on their way to or from work.

A young man from Mon State said he now hesitates to even go to work due to the junta’s widespread conscription drives. He added that many young people in the region continue to risk going abroad to avoid being drafted.

“Young people who are worried are leaving the country. Many are taking any opportunity they can to escape Myanmar. The youth population here has dropped significantly. If they stay, the risk of being drafted is just too great. They feel so stifled that they don’t even dare go out or go to work,” he told Than Lwin Times.

The junta is employing a range of methods to conscript young people, including raiding homes, intercepting and detaining travelers, and even arresting individuals at their workplaces.

Consequently, young people are caught in a bind, unsafe both outside and at home, living in constant fear that soldiers could arrest them at any moment.

Meanwhile, the junta is intensifying its conscription efforts, using a wider range of tactics as the election date it plans to hold approaches and security concerns increase.

According to figures collected by Than Lwin Times, nearly 3,000 young men have been conscripted in Mon State across batches 1 through 17.