August 30, 2024
In Yangon and across the country, reports indicate that military authorities are abducting youths using pickup trucks, with local administrative committees also involved in forcibly detaining and transporting these individuals to the military.
On August 28, around 9 PM, seven youths were reportedly taken away by military junta members in pickup trucks near the intersection of 6th Street and Central Road in Hlaing Township, Yangon. The youths detained on the streets were said to be individuals wanted for military service, and local ward officials were involved in their abduction.
Similarly, in Insein Township, local administrative leaders and ward heads were said to be compiling lists of youths eligible for military service and senior males to participate in local security teams, exerting pressure on local residents to cooperate. Reports indicate that threats of being taken by the military if they do not comply have been made.
Additionally, on August 29, around 5 AM, two youths wanted for military service from Suphan village in Mandalay Region were reportedly abducted by the military, who could not find the youths at their homes and instead detained their father and brother.
According to a local resident, “The two youths wanted for military service were long-haired and ethnic. When the military came to capture them, they took the father of one and the brother of the other. In the Wundwin Township, they are pressuring each village to deliver two youths. If they don’t, they will come into the village to take them. Other villages are also affected, and those who try to escape are fleeing. If there are no sons, they take the parents instead. The military comes quietly into the villages around 4 or 5 AM.”
Moreover, on the evening of August 25, the military reportedly cut off electricity in the western part of the country in Payakhu Township and entered homes to arrest youths, with over ten being taken away in Faw trucks.
In Ayeyarwady Region, in Gulet village, the village head reportedly summoned youths to the ward office for a short visit, only to detain and send them to the 98th battalion.
In addition, the village administrator of Ward 7 in Maubin Township, Than Htun, has been reported to be collecting youths for military service and funds, while also announcing training sessions for senior males over 60 to form local security teams.
A resident from Ward 7 stated, “The military regime is making things worse through administrators like Than Htun. Now, our villages have no safe places to escape, and many families are left with no options, living in constant fear every day.”
