Myanmar’s junta summoned enlisted men to training schools and military units in Yangon, Mandalay, Magwe and elsewhere in its first conscription batch on Friday.
“Welcoming ceremonies” for hundreds of conscripts were shown by pro-regime Telegram channels.
Central Body for Summoning Draftees sources in Yangon and the central command in Naypyitaw told The Irrawaddy that candidates would undergo medical tests and sit an examination.
The number of conscripts and their destinations are unknown.
In Yangon, most men were sent to the No.1 Advanced Military Training School in Gyoehpyu, Taikkyi Township.
A Thingangyun Township resident said conscripts assembled at the General Administration Department office since Thursday and taken to the training school in Taikkyi on Friday morning.
In Naypyitaw, conscripts have been taken to No.5 Basic Military Training School in Yay Ni, Yedashe Township, Bago Region.
At a welcoming event at a training school in Naypyitaw on Friday on Telegram, “Bullet” Hla Swe, a former lieutenant colonel military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, donated money to support the recruits.
Recruits were seen at No.7 Basic Military Training Corp in Taungdwingyi Township, Magwe Region, on Friday morning and at the Central Region Command in Mandalay Region.
On Saturday more recruits arrived at No.1 Basic Military Training Corp in Mingone village tract, Hlegu Township in Yangon. Junta officers from the Central Command on Saturday visited No.3 Basic Military Training School in Yamethin Township, Mandalay Region, to welcome hundreds of Mandalay recruits.
A retired army officer in Yangon said medical tests and other physical and mental assessments would normally take a few weeks but the junta’s need for troops might mean the processes are rushed.
An analyst said drafting was supposed to start after the Thingyan festival in mid-April but has started unexpectedly early.
“This reveals that the junta is afraid that the enlisted men might attempt to leave during the festival and highlights the urgent need for troops on the frontlines,” he said.
There are reports of men leaving their homes to avoid conscription.
Zin Yaw, a former army captain who joined the civil disobedience movement, emphasized the urgent need to act against conscription.
“If the people and anti-regime groups do not respond promptly to stop conscription, the junta could rapidly recover its numbers,” he said.