In April mandatory army conscription will come into effect in Myanmar | DW News

Myanmar's junta has started drafting civilians to fight in its military, as it tries to squash persistent efforts by pro-democracy and armed ethnic resistance groups to overthrow it. The military took power in a coup in 20-21 and imprisoned the country’s former democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Conflict has been brewing since, and the resistance movement has been gaining momentum. The junta is set to enforce a law that dictates all men between 18 and 35, and all women between 18 and 27 must serve at least two years in the armed forces. The law will come into effect in April - and it's pushing thousands to flee the country. Many of them are heading to neighboring Thailand but they're not necessarily safe there either.

DW's Asia Pacific bureau chief Georg Matthes met a group of men now living in a safe house in the Thai city of Mae Sot.

3:59 DW spoke to Dr. Anna Plunkett - a Lecturer in International Relations at the Department of War Studies at King's College London

8:19 and exiled Burmese journalist Sein Win

#myanmar #armedforcesday #conscription
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