Dear MEL Topic Readers,
‘I don’t want to kill’: Conscription law sparks fear in war-torn Myanmar
Since the military junta seized power in a coup in February 2021 in
Myanmar, there have been several domestic conflicts fought against the National
Unity Government, ethnic armed organizations, and multiple ethnic insurgencies.
Those conflicts have escalated especially in the northern part of the country
since last fall, and the junta government has seen an increasing number of depletions,
desertions, and defections of its military forces. So, they enacted the conscription
law that mandates men aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 35, to serve in the
military for at least two years or longer. This caused panic among young people
as they do not want to be sent to the front to fight with their own people. Many
of the young who don’t have to support their families have been trying to
escape from the country to neighboring countries like Thailand. Also, people have
become more careful not to be forcibly taken by the military even without
conscription or official orders, the practice the military has been using to support
their activities. Some say they would rather join the rebel forces than fight
for the military. Indeed, no one wants to fight to kill or to be killed by
their fellow citizens in a domestic conflict.
Read the article and learn about what Myanmar’s recent mandatory
conscription law caused.
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