Panic is spreading across urban wards of Mandalay following reports that the regime in Naypyidaw plans to double conscription quotas under starting in September.
Residents report that ward administrators have been instructed to raise recruitment mandates from 2–5 males per intake up to 4–10 males (aged 18–35), prompting families to hide draft-eligible youth or plan immediate exits from urban centers.
“Every household with young men are trying to figure out how to hide them or get them out of the city,” a Mandalay resident told DVB on condition of anonymity. “Ward administrators are already monitoring households closely, and with the new quota, everyone feels like a potential target.”
Selection tactics, draft evader lists, and legal mandates
Female conscription allegations and regime denials
Reports regarding female draft enlistment continue to create friction between military officials and civil society researchers:
Stakeholder / EntityDocumented Position & Official StatementsMyanmar Defence & Security InstituteReported that a new intake of female conscripts began military training at a facility in Yangon’s Hmawbi Township on August 10, following secret initial training batches in 2025.Regime Spokesperson (Khaing Khaing Soe)Explicitly denied on August 11 that females have been forcibly conscripted under the People’s Military Service Law.
International Condemnation and Regional Response
The escalation in forced recruitment continues to draw widespread criticism from regional lawmakers and international observers:
“In their desperation to preserve power, Min Aung Hlaing and the junta is stealing a generation from Myanmar,” said Mercy Chriesty Barends, the chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
APHR warned that forced enlistment deprives youth of their basic dignity, using untrained conscripts to offset heavy battlefield losses across active war zones.
The regime does not publicly disclose conscription quotas at the national, city, township, or ward level. But former regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun stated in 2024—shortly after the conscription law was enforced—that 5,000 would be conscripted into military service per intake.
The military conscription law—originally enacted in 2010 but not enforced until Feb. 10, 2024—stipulates mandatory service for both males, aged 18-25, and females, aged 18-27.
Since the first intake in April 2024, authorities have completed a total of 27 up to August 2026. An estimated 135,000 males have been conscripted nationwide to date.
On Aug. 11, the regime’s new spokesperson Khaing Khaing Soe denied reports that females have been forcibly conscripted under the law.
This regime response comes after a new report published by the Myanmar Defence and Security Institute (MDSI) alleges that an intake of female conscripts began training for their military service at a school in Yangon’s Hmawbi Township on Aug. 10.
MDSI, a research network established by former military personnel who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) after the 2021 military coup, previously reported in August 2025 that the regime had secretly trained its first batch of female conscripts at the same Hmawbi military school.
It warned that female military conscription centers could soon expand nationwide.
