26 May 2026 By Ko Myo / MPA
A number of young residents in Myanmar’s commercial capital, Yangon, have begun carrying improvised weapons, including sticks and knives, during their daily commutes to defend themselves against forced military recruitment and arbitrary abductions.
Amid a sharp rise in street-level conscription and forced disappearances across Yangon’s thoroughfares, commuters are stashing short sticks and knives inside their backpacks or shoulder bags. The measures are intended to provide a means of fighting back if they are targeted for arbitrary detention, according to a corporate employee in his 30s living near the Seven Pagodas area in South Okkalapa Township.
“My workplace is in downtown Yangon. Because my shifts usually end around 7:00 PM, my daily commute has become completely unsafe,” the employee told MPA. “Even our employer advised us to carry short sticks and knives for self-defense. He told us frankly that if we get taken, there is nothing he can do, and we certainly cannot afford to pay extortion bribes of four to five million Kyat. As a result, both young and middle-aged staff in our office are now armed. If something happens, we plan to fight our way out and run.”
While the exact scale of residents resorting to carrying defensive weapons remains difficult to verify, anecdotal evidence suggests the trend is growing among urban workers.
“When I head home from work and see that the bus stop is deserted, I wait further away in a safer spot,” the employee added. “The press-ganging primarily happens in the early evening. If a bus stop is empty, you are highly vulnerable, so everyone is on high alert.”
The anxieties are fueled by a succession of recent abductions documented by urban monitoring groups. On the evening of May 25, at approximately 7:00 PM, a young man walking home from work was abducted by a group of men on motorcycles near the sub-High School in Ward 17 of Shwepyitha Township.
In a separate incident on May 24 at around 8:00 PM, two young men walking under the Thamaing Flyover in Mayangone Township were forced into an unmarked vehicle by three men in civilian clothing, according to data published by the Rangoon Scout Network.
“When I travel between my workplace and home, I strictly avoid commuting late at night or during the early hours of the morning,” said a 35-year-old factory supervisor working in the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone. “I always keep a short iron rod inside my bag, and my friends do the same. Fortunately, we haven’t encountered any incidents yet.”
The supervisor noted that he now stays inside the factory compound for most of the week, only traveling back to his parents’ home in Hlaing Township once a week on his day off to minimize exposure to the streets.
Editor: ML
