Young people in Myanmar are reacting with dismay after the country’s military junta announced over the weekend that it will begin enforcing a more than decade-old conscription law.
The move, which comes as the military continues to suffer heavy losses to an array of armed groups more than three years after seizing power, would compel all men aged 18 to 35 and all women aged 18 to 27 to serve in the armed forces for at least two years.
That is based on a law enacted by a previous regime in 2010, which also requires doctors up to the age of 45 and other “specialists” to serve for three years, according to an announcement broadcast on state-run TV on Saturday.
At a press briefing the following day, junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun slammed other media outlets for “instilling fear” in the public regarding the law, accusing them. . .
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