Myanmar regime defends home raids and checkpoint arrests of conscription evaders

Myanmar regime officials have defended forced home entries, street stops, and checkpoint detentions targeting youth evading military service, asserting that aggressive recruitment tactics are lawful despite mounting criticism that the campaign amounts to widespread state abductions. The stance was confirmed during a Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, session in Naypyidaw on Wednesday where the regime’s Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Min Thu, addressed concerns regarding military recruitment practices across the country. Parliamentary debate over forced recruitment tactics Addressing the assembly, Deputy Minister Min Thu acknowledged public outrage over the methods deployed by security forces to locate and detain draft-eligible individuals, but insisted the measures were legally justified. “It has been observed that when authorities carry out surveillance and summons along travel routes, as well as entering homes to summon such evaders, the public perceives these actions as forced arrests,” Min Thu stated. Min Thu explained that males aged 18 to 35 who fail to report for compulsory military duty are placed on official blacklists. Authorities at city entry checkpoints and neighborhood household inspection teams have been ordered to identify, detain, and process these individuals for military service. The deputy minister’s claims drew sharp pushback from Gone Wun, a lawmaker representing the Naga National Party (NNP) for Hkamti Township in Sagaing Region. Gone Wun reported that military personnel in Hkamti are engaging in arbitrary detentions, forced home searches, and warrantless arrests. “Entering homes, stopping people on streets, and making arrests at city entry checkpoints outside the framework of the law exceeds the military service regulations,” Gone Wun countered during the session. Conscription toll: 125,000 drafted during 25 intakes The regime’s forced draft policy rests on the People’s Military Service Law, originally enacted in 2010 under former military dictator Than Shwe but left dormant until its sudden enforcement on February 10, 2024. Regime media reported that the military has executed 25 separate training intakes since enforcing the law. With former regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun previously confirming a target of approximately 5,000 conscripts per intake, an estimated 125,000 young men have been forcibly drafted into military service since April 2024. Myanmar Conscription Framework & Demographics ├── Law Enforced: February 10, 2024 (Enacted 2010) ├── Total Intakes Completed: 25 Training Intakes ├── Total Estimated Conscripts: ~125,000 Males └── Statutory Service Obligations: ├── General Male Population: Ages 18–35 (Min. 2 years) ├── General Female Population: Ages 18–27 (Min. 2 years) ├── Male Professionals (Doctors, Engineers): Up to Age 45 └── Female Professionals: Up to Age 35 Human rights watchdog: ‘Stealing a generation’ The regime’s escalation of nighttime household checks and travel-checkpoint detentions comes as frontline units face severe manpower shortages across active conflict zones in Shan, Arakan, and Karenni states, as well as Sagaing Region. The campaign has drawn fierce international condemnation. In a joint statement, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)—a regional network of current and former lawmakers—denounced the regime’s reliance on forced abductions and mandatory enlistment, warning that the regime is systematically “stealing a generation” to sustain its war effort. The post Myanmar regime defends home raids and checkpoint arrests of conscription evaders appeared first on DVB.