Yangon resident dies days after being conscripted into Myanmar military

A man from Yangon Region’s Taikkyi Township, whom the Myanmar military recently pressed into service, died at the 1,000-bed military hospital in Mingaladon Township on Sunday or Monday, according to two local sources who requested anonymity. The deceased man was Ko Ko Latt, 27, also called Amar Nut Lar. He was Muslim man who began his service on March 28, according to one of his friends. The military took him and other new recruits to a battalion’s training base in Mingaladon Township, Yangon, after taking them for blood tests on the morning of March 28, Ko Ko Latt’s friend said. “They brought him and other new recruits to a parade. There was music, dancing, and entertainment for the new recruits,” Ko Ko Latt’s friend said. According to Ko Ko Latt’s friend, at the hospital he was given glucose through an intravenous drip and medicines used in the treatment of alcoholism. Ko Ko Latt sometimes drank, but was in good health, his friend said. He added that Ko Ko Latt’s family had tried to visit him at the hospital, but the authorities had not allowed this, citing “military rules.” However, his family had been able to call him and speak with him by phone until Sunday afternoon. “We had to plead with the military officers not to conduct an autopsy because our religion forbids it,” the friend said. “We needed to get a recommendation letter from the ward administrator for that. But we got his body back in the end and gave him a funeral.” Ko Ko Latt was a manual labourer. He is survived by his wife and two small children; a four-year-old and a three-month-old. Another Yangon Region resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the military was responsible for Ko Ko Latt’s death. He said that the military had rushed him into service when Ko Ko Latt said he heard conscription had been postponed for six months and said he would prefer to start training later. The military council announced plans in February to start enforcing a decade-old law requiring up to five years of military service from all Myanmar nationals of eligible age. Although the military council publicly announced that they would start the conscription process and train new recruits in batches of 5,000 after the Thingyan holidays in April, basic training for the conscripts actually began in March. The military’s forcible recruitment of mostly Rohingya young men living in displaced persons’ camps began even earlier, in February. Myanmar Now tried to reach Htay Aung, the chief legal officer and spokesperson for the military regime in Yangon Region, but all calls went unanswered.

Yangon resident dies days after being conscripted into Myanmar military

Authorities did not allow the new recruit’s family to visit him in the hospital, where he died within four days of being admitted

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