Irrawaddy-Jan 29
Myanmar’s regime has started the process of drafting women for military service by registering Yangon Region females. In February last year, the junta dusted off the Conscription Law, requiring men aged 18-35 and single women 18-27 to serve in the military for a minimum of two years. The regime has since trained nine batches of male conscripts. In mid-January the regime started compiling lists of eligible Yangon women, including in Hlaing Tharyar Township, Myanmar’s largest industrial zone where hundreds of thousands of women work in factories. Other townships included Thanlyin, Kyauktan, Kayan, Thongwa, South Dagon and Dagon Seikkan on the outskirts of Yangon as well as Tamwe, Thaketa, Yankin, Dawbon and Thingangyun. The junta faces severe troop shortages. On January 23, the regime updated the Conscription Law, making it compulsory for family members to serve in the military consecutively.
It also blocked those eligible from leaving the country without junta permission.
If someone fails to respond to their call-up, their family must explain their absence and register a substitute. Article 23 of the law threatens draft dodgers with three years in prison. The junta said 14 million people, or 26 percent of the population, are eligible for military service. The law has prompted an exodus to foreign countries while others have joined anti-regime groups. The regime has been also abducting healthy men from homes, streets and buses across the country, including in Yangon and Mandalay, to address its troop shortages.
Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-junta-registering-women-ahead-of-possible-conscription.html
