Myanmar Announces Military Compulsory, Its Citizens Immediately Apply for Visas to Escape

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Yangoon –

More than 1,000 people queued in front of the Thai Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar last Friday. Myanmar’s young people are trying to leave their country after the announcement of military conscription.

Reported AFP, Tuesday (20/2/2024) some time ago, the Myanmar military said it would enforce the ‘People’s Military Service Law’ which allows them to call up all men aged 18-35 years and women aged 18-27 years to serve in the military, at least for two years.

Myanmar’s junta faces widespread armed resistance after seizing power from an elected civilian government. And it has recently suffered a series of major defeats from armed alliances of ethnic minority groups.

Following the announcement, the Thai Embassy in Yangon has been flooded with young men and women seeking visas to leave Myanmar. On Friday (16/2). The embassy said it issued 400 numbered tickets every day to manage queues.

Residents are willing to queue since midnight

A young man named Aung Phyo (20) was willing to queue since Thursday evening in front of the Thai Embassy.

“We had to wait for three hours and the police opened the security gate at around 3am and we had to run to the front of the embassy to try to get a place to get tokens,” said Aung Phyo, a pseudonym for the young man’s safety.

He wanted to escape to Bangkok, with the hope of a visa to stay there for some time.

“I will go to Bangkok on a tourist visa and hope to stay there for a while. I haven’t decided whether to work or study. I just want to escape from this country,” said Aung Phyo.

All hotels around the embassy are also fully booked by people who want to get visas to Thailand.

“When the security gates opened, we ran like a marathon. All I could think about was getting a place in front of the embassy and running as fast as I could,” said 20-year-old Kaung Kaung.

Conditions in Myanmar

Conditions in Myanmar are still burning because of the civil war. Most recently, militia troops began to succeed in seizing several military facilities controlled by the junta regime, prompting several troops and personnel to surrender.

Quoted from CNBC IndonesiaMyanmar has been in civil war since Min Aung Hlaing’s military junta coup d’etat the civilian government in February 2021. The coup, which occurred in February 2021 sparked a major public reaction, with massive demonstrations against it, which were then brutally dispersed.

This then triggered a strong reaction from several ethnic militias in the Land of a Thousand Pagodas. They began to launch resistance against the junta regime which was considered undemocratic.

Laukkai is the largest city captured by the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which consists of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Arakan Army (AA), and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

The alliance launched a surprise attack across much of Myanmar’s north in late October and has captured several towns and lucrative trade centers along the border with China.

The alliance’s success in capturing Laukkai has put the junta in its most vulnerable position since they seized power. This month, they announced they would begin recruiting young men and women into their ranks due to the “current situation.”

No details were given about how those called up were expected to serve. However, many young people are considered apathetic about this offer and choose to flee abroad.

Watch the video “Myanmar Junta Issues Rules for Young Men and Women to Compulsory Military Service for 2 Years”

(sym/wsw)