Bangkok, Thailand – Amid Myanmar’s military regime’s intensified conscription efforts, Aung, a 29-year-old English teacher, fled the country to avoid being drafted. Since the conscription law was reinstated last year, thousands have escaped, as the military struggles to fill its ranks amidst ongoing civil conflict. Reports indicate that new conscripts face dangerous assignments, often treated as expendable, leading to widespread evasion, abduction, and extortion as the regime resorts to increasingly severe measures to meet its recruitment targets.
