Junta administrators soliciting bribes, promising to exempt families from conscription

Amid increasing forced recruitment for military service in Myanmar, junta administrators have begun extorting bribes from eligible people and their relatives to evade conscription or arrest, civilians in Mandalay Region and Naypyitaw said. Administrators have been extorting these payments since December, according to at least five residents of Naypyitaw Union Territory and Mandalay Region who spoke to Myanmar Now. The collections began after township-level members of the junta’s general administration department called a meeting with ward-level administrators. Local administrators had collected around six million kyat (US $2,900) in a village of around 60 households in Wundwin Township, Mandalay Region, according to a man living there, who requested anonymity for security reasons. The village administration collected the bribes from the 100-household elders in the villages and recorded the payments on a list, according to residents, but did not give out receipts to the families as documentation of payment. One of the Wundwin Township villagers said the authorities told them the money would go to the township-level administrators and police stations, but did not give any further details. “There were some who refused to pay. One evening, the police and administrators arrived in the village, demanding a list of names of those who hadn’t paid. Who would dare defy them? This is their time,” the Wundwin Township villager said. “Now, if they arrest someone without reason, families are forced to pay 5 to 8 million kyat [US $2,400 to $3,800] per person, whether they can afford it or not,” he added. Residents of Mandalay Region’s Amarapura and Sintgaing townships said village administrators were collecting 30,000-50,000 kyat (US $14 to $24) per household and promising exemption from conscription by lottery. In late December, after a meeting arranged by the head of the township administration with police and village administrators at a village monastery, each household was required to pay 50,000 kyat, said a woman from a village of around 200 households in Amarapura Township, adding that residents of nearby villages had to pay the same amount. “They held a meeting at the monastery and told us we had to draw lots. The next day, the ward administrators called another meeting and gave villagers the choice to either pay money or participate in the lottery. They asked for one person from each household,” she added. The military junta’s need for new recruits has grown since last year, with the army having lost two Regional Military Command headquarters—one in northern Shan State and another in Rakhine State—along with numerous bases nationwide. This led junta authorities to make targeted arrests of young people in addition to issuing summons for them according to the conscription law, circumstances that administrators are now trying to exploit by extorting money. According to a resident of Hpa Yar Kone village in Mandalay Region’s Yamethin Township, local villagers were not previously required to make regular payments to administrators, but since the army started pressing young men into service, households with men of eligible age have had to pay 150,000 kyat (US $72) each. “Things calm down once we pay the group collecting the money. With over 100 households in the village, each collection brings in more than 7 million kyat,” she added. “We’ve only dealt with this once this year, but the administrators said payments could become more frequent if recruitment demands increase.” The woman added that villagers who could afford it would pay to have someone go in their place if their names were drawn in the lottery. She also noted that there were fewer young people in the village since the threat of conscription had driven most of them away. A young man from a village in Naypyitaw’s Pyinmana Township said he had been paying 50,000 kyat per month to his village administrator since August to avoid military service. However, he was told during an overnight guest registration inspection in December that his name was still on the list of eligible recruits. When authorities took him into custody, he was only able to avoid conscription by paying an additional eight million kyat (US $3,800), he said. “I believe they were from the army in Taung Nyo. I was held for about three days before my family, along with the administrators, came to negotiate,” he recalled. “They said they could release me if we found a replacement. My family paid eight million to secure someone for me. In total, the cost amounted to over 10 million, as we had to make additional payments throughout the process.” However, his troubles did not end there. “After two weeks, the replacement came back to the village and told me I had to return. When I asked why, I learned that the replacement had failed the medical checkup,” he explained. “My family was frustrated, and had to convince them that we would be able to find another replacement.” The young man has since left the village temporarily, he said. While instances of authorities taking bribes and promising exemption from military service are common in Mandalay, Naypyitaw, and other areas under junta control, a representative of the Taungtha Township People’s Movement Committee said they have not occurred in Myingyan District, an area with a heavy concentration of armed resistance forces. “They can only carry out conscription in areas and townships where there is no fighting. I believe they focus on security in our township because of the frequent combat engagements,” he said. When Myanmar Now contacted the military council’s national-level committee overseeing conscription to inquire about the bribery allegations, representatives for the committee responded that no directive had been issued for this practice and that action would be taken if a complaint were filed. “There is no official collection of money, and no directive has been issued for it,” a committee representative said. “Complaints can be submitted to the Central Body for Summoning People’s Military Servants or the regional department, and action will be taken following an investigation.” The military revived the enforcement of a decade-old military service law in February 2024, and soon launched a drive to enlist new conscripts, requiring young men of eligible age to serve for three to five years. The ninth batch of recruits is currently undergoing basic military training. Men between 18 and 35 years old and women between 18 and 27 years old are eligible for conscription. The age range is wider for professionals or specialists in certain fields, extending to age 45 for men and age 35 for women.

Junta administrators soliciting bribes, promising to exempt families from conscription

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