Scores of young people have been arrested in Mandalay since the junta activated the conscription law early this month, residents of the country’s second-largest city say.
More than 80 people have been arrested by the regime since the second week of February in six Mandalay townships, according to a tally by The Irrawaddy. The actual number, however, could be higher.
Combined forces of junta soldiers, police, ward administration officials and militia members have been taking headcounts and checking households for overnight guests in Mandalay since Feb. 15, residents say.
“Checks have increased since the announcement of the conscription law. They started by conducting checks and making arrests in wards of Aungmyaythazan Township, and villages in northern Patheingyi Township,” a Mandalay resident told The Irrawaddy.
The national conscription law was activated on Feb. 10 by Min Aung Hlaing. It requires men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 to serve in the military for two to five years.
Migrants working in Mandalay or displaced people living in the town were arrested as junta troops visited households during the day as well as at night to check for unregistered guests. Some town residents were also detained.
In the wake of the 2021 coup, the regime revived a colonial-era law that allows authorities to conduct warrantless searches of private homes and requires all residents to register overnight houseguests. Previously, such searches were mainly conducted at night. But junta troops are also searching households in Mandalay during the day.
A former political prisoner from Mandalay said it was all about money. Junta soldiers “are extorting money from people who they detain on the pretext of overnight guest registration [but] detainees are released after money is paid.”
About 15 young men aged between 16 and 30 were arrested in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi and Aungmyaythazan townships on Sunday.
A resident of Aungpinle ward in Chanmyathazi said: “Over 30 armed men wearing military uniforms or ordinary clothes were involved in searches in our ward.
They searched one house after another.”
The ward is a suburb in the east of Chanmyathaza. Junta troops searched houses, teashops and restaurants in the ward at about 9 a.m. on Sunday allegedly to check for unregistered guests.
A resident of Aungpinle ward said: “They made headcounts against household registration certificates. My children had left home for work when they came. They asked many questions about what they do, where they work, and what time they return home. They told us to report to the administration office when we have overnight guests.”
Those detained were reportedly held for hours at the ward administration before their relatives paid for their release. Others were reportedly transferred to Aungpinle police station. The Irrawaddy was unable to obtain comment from Aungpinle or Chanmyathazi police stations.
Junta troops also beat young men and a guesthouse owner as they arrested them at “Shwe Sabel” guesthouse near a bus terminal in Pyigyitagun Township on Feb. 22. Pro-junta Telegram channels claimed that the young men were members of a People’s Defense Force and that they had weapons.
Two men in their 20s were arrested at a noodle shop in Aungmyaythazan Township on Monday morning, a witness told The Irrawaddy.
“Seven armed men in ordinary clothes arrived in a private vehicle and a motorbike taxi, and arrested two young men who were eating at a noodle shop,” he said.
A couple was arrested while driving their car in Aungmyaythazan Township on Monday evening, reported MDY-Revolution.
The same day, junta soldiers conducted headcounts and checked overnight guests in Chanmyathazi, Maha Aungmyay and Aungmyaythazan townships.
Streets in Mandalay have become almost deserted after 8 p.m. following the activation of the conscription law and reports that young people are being abducted. Since Feb. 19, junta-appointed administrators have been visiting wards at night and using speakers to announce that abduction reports are just rumors and that residents can go outside their homes as usual.