Some business owners in Myanmar told DVB that they are concerned over new requirements in the military conscription law that requires them to continue paying wages to their employees who’ve been conscripted into the military. 

The regime issued stricter guidelines regarding conscription on Jan. 23. The conscription law was enacted on Feb. 10, 2024. It stipulates that men aged 18 to 35 who are conscripted must serve two years, but it goes up to five years in a state of emergency, which Myanmar has been under since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. 

“[The law] is essentially a licence to exploit young people as forced labour on the frontlines,” Aung Myo Min, the National Unity Government (NUG) Minister of Human Rights, told DVB. 

He accused the military of using conscripts essentially as cannon fodder. The NUG Ministry of Human Rights stated that 23,799 people have been conscripted into the military, including 80 women and 28 children, since last April when the first intake began.

“Employers are struggling and employees don’t know where or how to claim their entitlements. The law doesn’t clearly outline the process, leaving room for arbitrary decisions,” a lawyer from Myanmar told DVB on the condition of anonymity.

The new conscription guidelines state that when an employee of a company is conscripted into military service, the employer must handle wage payments in accordance with “ministerial orders and directives.”

After completing military service, the employee should be reinstated to their original position or an equivalent role. The exact amount to be paid or the duration for which wages must be provided were not specified. 

Professionals such as doctors or engineers can be conscripted into military service up to age 45 under the law. Under its new guidelines, the regime also ordered those selected for military conscription to be barred from leaving the country without authorization.

A business owner told DVB on the condition of anonymity that due to Myanmar’s deteriorating economy since 2021 and with rising inflation, employers are unable to pay the wages of their employees who are conscripted into the military.

“No employer can afford to keep paying salaries indefinitely. The only option is to let the worker go,” he said.

Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said that Naypyidaw plans to recruit 5,000 conscripts per month, which began last April after the Thingyan festival. 

On Feb. 7, he added that the regime still has no plans to conscript women even though the conscription law stipulates that females aged 18 to 27 must serve 2-5 years depending on the state of emergency.