Minors among Myanmar military prisoners of war taken by Kachin Independence Army

Sources close to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) told DVB on Friday that an unknown number of minors are among the 151 Myanmar military personnel detained as prisoners of war in Shwegu Township, Kachin State, on Sept. 2. The KIA stated on Sept. 10 that 151 military personnel, including 118 soldiers, were taken as prisoners of war from seven out of 14 Myanmar Navy vessels along the Irrawaddy River in Kachin’s Shwegu on Sept. 2. It added that 34 of the 118 soldiers were aged 16-30, who were “forcibly” recruited under the military conscription law, without disclosing the exact number of minors. A source inside the KIA told DVB on the condition of anonymity that at least 80 per cent of the 800 military personnel transported by 14 Myanmar Navy vessels to Kachin’s Bhamo Township on Sept. 3 were conscripted into the military under the regime’s conscription law, enforced on Feb. 10, 2024. Known officially as “People’s Military Service Law,” the conscription law requires both males aged 18-35 and females aged 18-27 to serve up to two years, while specialists like doctors aged up to 45 must serve for three years. Only six out of 14 naval vessels that left the Gaw Wein jetty in Mandalay Region on Aug. 21 arrived in Bhamo on Sept. 3, according to the KIA. Shwegu, 64 miles (103 km) west of Bhamo, is located 119-181 miles (191-291 km) southwest of the KIA headquarters at Laiza and south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina. The battle between the KIA and regime forces over control of Bhamo, located 118 miles (190 km) south of Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Laiza, has been ongoing since December 2024. Regime media reported that the opening ceremonies for the 28th intake of military conscripts were held at training schools within Regional Military Commands (RMC) nationwide on Sept. 7. An estimated 140,000 men have been drafted in 28 intakes, with each round inducting around 5,000 conscripts, according to former regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun. On May 25, the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)—a regional network of current and former lawmakers—warned that the regime is “stealing a generation” of Myanmar youth to sustain its military operations and offset battlefield losses to resistance forces. An estimated 12 per cent of male conscripts, or 631 from the first batch of 5,155 new recruits—who began training on April 8, 2024—have been allowed to return home, according to the Myanmar Defence and Security Institute (MDSI)—a research network established by former military personnel who defected to the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 coup.