In Mon State, the junta’s drafting of new recruits for its upcoming 21st conscription batch is continuing, according to locals and junta-appointed administrators who requested anonymity.

Round 2 voting in the junta-supervised election was held on January 11, while military training for conscription batch 21 was scheduled to begin in the second week of January, meaning the junta continued drafting new recruits even during the election period.

In Mon State, the junta carried out conscription by arresting young men out at night, detaining men riding together on the same motorcycle, forcibly abducting others, and using financial incentives to lure recruits into military training.

An administration official, who declined to be named, admitted that under intense pressure from the junta, he and fellow officials have been searching for new recruits for the upcoming conscription batch by every possible means.

“The junta will open military training batches for new conscripts one after another, no matter what happens. Even the election cannot stop the regime’s demand to meet the required number of conscripts. Administrative officials are under pressure to ensure those quotas are filled, and because that pressure cannot be resisted, officials have tried to recruit as many people as possible. Some young people, who were not fully aware of the situation, were misled with claims that there is a peace process and that no more fighting will take place. Others were recruited through methods such as offering money to the unemployed,” he told Than Lwin Times.

In addition, young people arrested by junta-affiliated police and security personnel on alleged security violations were handed over to administrators for conscription, with payments ranging from 4 to 8 million MMK per person.

Junta-appointed village and ward administrators are required to sign a guarantee to recruit the full number of people for each conscription batch set by the junta and are warned that they will face disciplinary action if they fail to meet the quota.

Under such pressure from the junta, administrators have been forced to recruit conscripts by any means necessary. When offering money fails to attract candidates, they resort to drafting conscripts through a lottery system among households in their areas of responsibility.

According to figures compiled by Than Lwin Times, nearly 4,000 young men in Mon State have already been drafted during the junta’s first 20 conscription batches