Thousands queue for visas to leave Myanmar after announcement of mandatory military conscription - Mothership.SG
More than 1,000 people lined up to get visas outside the Thai embassy in Yangon on Friday (Feb. 16), hoping to leave the country.
This was after Myanmar's military government announced that it would impose military service for all young men and women.
All men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 must serve for up to two years, while specialists like doctors aged up to 45 must serve for three years, the junta announced on Feb. 10.
The service may be extended to a total of five years in the ongoing state of emergency.
Since then, the Thai embassy in Yangon has reportedly been swamped with young people seeking visas to get out of Myanmar.
In videos posted onto X, long queues were seen.
An AFP journalist estimated that the queue spanned 1,000 to 2,000 people, reported Yahoo.
Some people shared that they had been sleeping in their cars or at hotels nearby just so they can queue overnight.
The embassy said that it would be issuing 400 numbered tickets a day to manage the queue, AFP reported.
One 22-year-old said that he "just wanted to escape from this country".
Why is conscription being introduced?
Myanmar has been embroiled in civil conflict since a military coup in February 2021 ousted the democratically elected government formed by the National League for Democracy, linked to Aung San Suu Kyi.Resistance to the coup began almost immediately, with large protests eventually giving way to significant armed resistance.
Fighting between the military and armed resistance armies has been ongoing ever since, with the military relying on air strikes that have also involved significant civilian casualties.
A surprise offensive was launched against the military, also known as the Tatmadaw, last October.
The military suffered significant losses while an alliance of three ethnic-minority insurgent groups, allied with pro-democracy fighters, captured large swathes of land in northeastern Myanmar along the Chinese border.
In the wake of the setback, the military has enacted the law in hopes of recruiting more non-combat personnel to fight the resistance.
