Tatmadaw Day ceremony held in Nay Pyi Taw in March 2022 – Photo: AFP
Mizzima
Although the conscription law has been activated, its implementation process will take time, according to ISP Myanmar.
While the central recruitment body was formed within days of enactment, lower-level committees are yet to be formed, and detailed by-laws and procedures are yet to be declared and enforced. Preparation time is needed to identify the list of eligible individuals who fit the enlisting criteria for military service.
Additionally, establishing institutions at the central, region/state, township, and ward/village levels to compile the recruits, and establishing a new directorate within the military to oversee training and assign duties to the conscripted individuals are also parts of the preparation process. Interdepartmental cooperation is also needed, as well as additional defense budget must be allocated for the new recruits.
The junta spokesperson mentioned that the training of the first cohort will be conducted after the Myanmar New Year Water Festival (Thingyan Festival) in April. The next steps after completing the list will be summoning through conscription notice letters and conducting medical checks, which could take around two months.
Therefore, the first cohort might commence training as early as June and as late as August. If the training duration can be considered four to five months, the training for the first cohort will conclude either in November, December 2024 or January 2025, according to ISP-Myanmar’s calculations.
According to ISP-Myanmar research, the Myanmar Army previously had 200,000 forces at its peak, but even before the 2021 coup this had dropped to 160,000 soldiers and since the coup the number of personnel in the Myanmar Army has dropped to about 100,000.
The junta says it aims to enlist 5,000 new recruits monthly, starting in April 2024, and thus 60,000 yearly. ISP-Myanmar says it appears that the objective is to restore the military’s strength to pre-coup levels within the first year of recruitment.
