Myanmar military junta bans men from applying for jobs abroad

RECRUITS

The military service law was drafted by a previous junta in 2010, but never came into force.

It allows the military to call up all men between the ages of 18 and 35 and women between the ages of 18 and 27 to serve for at least two years.

That law also stipulates that, during a state of emergency, terms of service can be extended by up to five years and those who ignore a summons to serve can be imprisoned for the same period.

Myanmar’s junta announced a state of emergency when it took power in 2021, and the military recently extended it for six more months.

A first group of several thousand recruits has already begun training under the law, according to pro-military Telegram accounts.

A spokesman for the junta said the law was necessary “due to the situation that is happening in our country”, as it combats both the so-called People’s Defense Forces and older armed groups belonging to ethnic minorities.

About 13 million people could be called up, he said, although the army only has the capacity to train 50,000 a year.

More than 4,900 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent since its February 2021 coup and more than 26,000 people have been arrested, according to a local monitoring group.