Young men in Hpa-An, the capital of Myanmar's southern Karen state, are reportedly living in fear of abduction and forced military service. Locals claim plain-clothed members and supporters of the Myanmar junta are roaming the streets, arbitrarily arresting individuals in their teens, 20s, and 30s.
According to leaked documents seen by BBC Burmese, authorities have been ordered to aggressively fulfil military recruitment quotas across jurisdictions. This comes as the junta faces a war of attrition against ethnic militias, pro-democracy groups, and civilian resistance movements.
Myanmar has been in a civil war since February 2021, following a military coup. In 2024, a mandatory conscription law was enacted, requiring men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve at least two years. Those who refuse face up to five years in prison.
Maj Naung Yoe, a military affairs official at the Myanmar Defense and Security Institute (MDSI) and a former military officer, stated that the law is one of the most severe actions against the civilian population since the coup. Hpa-An is reportedly the latest area caught in a dragnet that has ensnared an estimated 100,000 young recruits over the past two-and-a-half years, often through coercion, extortion, and abductions.
International rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Fortify Rights, report that Myanmar's military is abducting civilians for service. Open-source research by Myanmar Witness found a significant increase in missing-person notices on Facebook for men and boys between 2021 and 2025, with recruitment often appearing to be carried out through detention, coercion, and disappearance.
One woman from Yangon, Ma Moe San Pan, claims her 33-year-old husband was taken to a military recruitment centre in May 2025 after her cousin, who worked at a local ward administration office, allegedly sold him to another ward for 4 million kyats ($900; £680) to fill a recruitment quota. The administrator of the ward to which her husband was taken admitted to the BBC that he played a role in sending him to military recruitment authorities, stating that transfers from other townships occur when local quotas cannot be met, but denied money was involved.