Irrawaddy-Feb 11
Myanmar’s junta is enforcing a law allowing the military to summon all men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve for at least two years, it said on Saturday, as it struggles to crush opposition to its 2021 coup. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military takeover in February of that year, which ended a ten-year experiment with democracy and sparked mass protests and a crackdown on dissent. Three years on, the junta is struggling to crush widespread armed opposition to its rule and recently suffered a series of stunning losses to an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups. The junta “issued the notification of the effectiveness of People’s Military Service Law starting from February 10th, 2024,” the junta’s information team said in a statement. Saturday’s statement did not give further details but said the junta’s defense ministry would “release necessary bylaws, procedures, announcements orders, notifications and instructions.” The junta has previously said it is taking measures to arm pro-military militias as it battles opponents across the country. That law also had a stipulation that during a state of emergency, the terms of service can be extended up to five years and those ignoring summons to serve can be jailed for the same period. The Myanmar junta announced a state of emergency when it seized power in 2021, with the army recently extending it for a further six months. Since the coup, pro-democracy “People’s Defense Forces” have enlisted tens of thousands of young recruits and are taking the fight to the junta across swathes of the country. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-enforces-military-service-law-following-battlefield-losses.html
