CHAUNGZON, Myanmar — Deep anxiety is gripping the local community in Chaungzon Township, Mon State, as none of the 75 men recruited in the military’s first conscription batch have returned home, despite their official service terms supposedly concluding.
While the junta-appointed Chief Minister of Kayah (Karenni) State recently held a ceremony in Loikaw to “honor” 385 soldiers from the first intake for completing their duty, residents and local administrators in Chaungzon say there has been no sign of their own local recruits.
“In the first batch, Chaungzon was forced to provide 75 men. Some were locals, while others were migrant workers from other regions,” a source close to the local ward administration told MPA. “Not a single person has returned. If they were released, the administration would certainly know. The fact that none have reached home confirms our worst fears.”
The 75 men were sent to the Southeast Regional Command in Mawlamyine in late March and early April 2024. Most were lured or pressured into service with payments ranging from 3 to 5 million Kyats ($1,400 – $2,300 USD), funded by local village contributions. At the time, officials promised that recruits would only serve in their home regions—a promise that appears to have been tragically broken.
Sources within the Mon State government administration revealed that instead of local deployment, the fresh recruits—who received only two months of basic training—were dispatched to the country’s most brutal conflict zones, including Rakhine, Sagaing, and Karenni states.
“Sending men with only two months of training into active combat zones in Rakhine or Dawei is a death sentence,” an official noted. “It is no surprise that they haven’t returned; the reality is they were likely used as frontline fodder and perished.”
Locals have pointed the finger at former Chief Minister Aung Kyi Thein, who reportedly pushed for a higher recruitment quota in his native Chaungzon to curry favor with the junta leadership. “People trusted his word that they would stay near their villages,” a resident added. “He bears the primary responsibility for the fate of these men.”
While families in villages like Kwam Thae and Murit Gyi have heard unofficial reports that the men were killed in action, the military has yet to issue any formal death notifications or return any remains.
The crisis underscores the devastating human cost of the national conscription law enforced by General Min Aung Hlaing’s regime. As the military struggles with massive desertions and casualties, the silence surrounding the fate of the Chaungzon 75 serves as a grim warning to other families across a nation where young men are increasingly viewed as a disposable resource for a failing campaign.
