Since Myanmar's military government began enforcing mandatory conscription, young people, men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27, have been seeking passports and exit visas in large numbers, with reports of injuries and deaths outside passport offices and embassies as crowds have surged.
The conscription law dates back to 2010 but had gone largely unenforced until the junta began applying it more widely, requiring a minimum two years of service, as it looks to rebuild forces that have lost ground to resistance groups since the February 2021 coup.
The United Nations estimates 2.6 million people have been displaced by the conflict. Many of those trying to avoid service oppose the military government outright, and some have turned to alternatives such as entering monastic life, marrying early, or joining resistance movements instead of the army.