Myanmar’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) has issued a nationwide call urging the public to resist the military junta’s forced conscription drive and encouraging forcibly recruited youths to desert at the first opportunity.

Since the junta enforced the National Military Service Law in February 2024, military authorities have conscripted approximately 135,080 people across 27 training batches between July 2024 and August 2026, according to the PDF statement.

Resistance officials noted that conscripts now make up a significant portion of frontline junta columns deployed in offensives nationwide, bearing the brunt of military casualties.

Figures from the opposition National Unity Government’s (NUG) Ministry of Defence—which oversees the PDF—report that between July 2024 and August 2026, junta forces suffered 20,383 deaths and 9,792 injuries. During the same period, 3,874 military personnel defected through the "People’s Embrace" scheme, approximately 20,000 deserted, and 536 were captured as prisoners of war.

The statement further said that forced recruitment has recently expanded to target young women. 

In junta-controlled urban areas, pro-military Pyusawhti militias, local administrators, and criminal gangs are reportedly collaborating to abduct youths and extort money from their families.

The PDF advised young people at risk of recruitment to avoid traveling alone or at night and to flee to revolutionary-controlled territories or abroad. Conscripts already inside military units were urged to desert whenever possible, with resistance forces offering safety guarantees and financial rewards to those who defect with their service weapons.

Youths arriving in liberated zones can choose to contribute to public services—such as education, healthcare, and humanitarian aid for displaced persons—or join resistance units like the PDF and qualified local defence teams.