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Unease grows over plans to introduce draft

Irrawaddy - January 10, 2011

Rangoon – News of the recent enactment of a military conscription law that will force young Burmese to join the armed forces or face prison sentences of up to five years is causing serious concern among the general public, according to an informal survey by The Irrawaddy.

In interviews with more than 100 Rangoon residents from various walks of life, The Irrawaddy found that around 90 percent were opposed to the imposition of mandatory military service and did not want to participate in it or allow their children to do so.

According to The Associated Press, the law, dated Nov. 4, 2010, but still not made public, will require every man between the age of 18 and 45 and every woman between 18 and 35 to serve in the military for two years, which could be increased to five years in times of national emergencies.

Those who fail to report for military service could get three years in prison, a fine or both, and those who deliberately inflict injury upon themselves to avoid conscription could be imprisoned for up to five years, fined or both, the AP reported.

"This news has been spreading since the end of December," said one Rangoon resident, speaking on condition of anonymity. "People have been talking about it on the Internet and Facebook and are getting worried because they don't want to serve in the military."

One reason many people are opposed to the draft, he said, is public contempt for the armed forces, which for decades has been the key to keeping the country's deeply unpopular rulers in power.

"The army has violently suppressed Burmese citizens ever since it seized state power in 1962, so people's bitterness has grown from generation to generation. Young people today witnessed violent crackdowns on protests in 1988 and 2007, so they hate the generals and curse the soldiers," said a gold shop owner in Rangoon.

One 50-year-old mother with two sons over the age of 18 said she would not allow them to be drafted.

"I don't care what the law says, I can't send my sons to the army, not for a short time or a long time," she said. "I believe other parents think the same way as I do, so we will all oppose it together. If we can't stop it, we will have no choice but to protest against it until we die."

A Rangoon-based reporter told The Irrawaddy that he could not confirm with regime officials that the conscription law had in fact been enacted. He added, however, that people were taking the reports very seriously, and suggested that the new law could lead to unrest.

"People are furious at the thought that their children could be forced to join the army, which they see as cruel and violent," he said. "They are worried about the harm that will be inflicted on their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and will not accept this law."

Some, however, saw the conscription law as an opportunity to forge closer ties between the army and civilians, possibly with the effect of making the armed forces more attuned to the needs of the public.

"I think we will be nearer our democratic goals when people understand military affairs. Because of the conscription law, people will become soldiers and the army will be viewed as the people's army and will no longer follow the orders of the dictators," said an independent candidate who ran in Burma's first election in 20 years on Nov. 7, 2010.

The move to introduce conscription did not come as a complete surprise. Article 386, Chapter VIII of Burma's 2008 Constitution states that "Every citizen has the duty to undergo military training in accord with the provisions of the law and to serve in the Armed Forces to defend the Union."

"Citizens will definitely have to serve in the armed forces in accordance with the Constitution, but we won't know how this will be implemented until after the Parliament is convened," said a lawyer in Rangoon. "We don't know, for instance, what kind of exceptions there will be. So it's not something we need to worry about now. If it is applied too stringently, however, people will resist it."

The regime claimed that 92.48 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in favor of the 2008 Constitution in a national referendum held on May 10, 2008.

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