Over 150 people have been arrested so that they can be conscripted since the last week of August 2024, in Salin Township, Magway Region,

A Salin Township resident said to Than Lwin Times: “Junta soldiers are conducting widespread arrests. Even sick people who are staying at home have been arrested. Fuel station attendants and those going to work have all been arrested.”

Not only is the junta abducting people from their homes, it has even been arresting people working in shops to conscript them. The junta also announced on 5 September 2024 that it will start conscripting women. As a result, all shops have closed and the township is deserted.

Explaining how the junta abducts people for conscription a Salin Township resident said: “They don’t wear uniforms and don’t arrive in military vehicles. They come on three-wheeled motorbikes (also known as Oways) or sometimes by auto rickshaw. They wear civilian clothes, and no guns or weapons are visible. They only make arrests when they are close.”

The families of the arrested have to go to the township office and attempt to bribe the junta soldiers to release their relatives. Some have even been told to go meet soldiers in Karaoke (KTV) and beer bars to pay for the release of their relatives, which seems to indicate that groups of soldiers are operating independently and just carrying out the arrests to line their own pockets.

Those who cannot afford to pay bribes are not released.

According to local sources, the junta plans to conscript 300 people in Salin Township in this round of conscriptions.