Thousands in Myanmar seeking to leave after junta announces draft

Young people hoping for a visa to Thailand say they fear being called up to fight

YANGON - More than 1,000 people lined up at the Thai embassy in Yangon on Feb 16 as young people sought to leave Myanmar after the junta said it would impose military service.

The military said on Feb 10 that it would enforce a law allowing it to call up all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve for at least two years as it struggles to quell opposition to its 2021 coup.

The junta faces widespread armed resistance to its rule after seizing power from an elected civilian government, and recently suffered a series of stunning losses to an armed alliance of ethnic minority groups.

The Thai embassy in Yangon has been swamped with young men and women seeking visas to get out of Myanmar since the announcement that the "People's Military Service Law" would be brought into force.

On Feb 16, an AFP journalist saw a queue of between 1,000 and 2,000 people snaking through the streets near the mission in downtown Yangon - compared with fewer than 100 before the announcement.

The embassy said it was issuing 400 numbered tickets a day in order to manage the queue.

Student Aung Phyo, 20, told AFP he arrived at the embassy at 8pm on the night of Feb 15 and slept in his car before starting to queue around midnight.