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ABSDF NEWS AGENCY (r)
FORCED RECRUITMENT LEADS TO A HIGH PRICE FOR SUBSTITUTION
Slorc has been systematically recruiting youngsters into its army
and increasing the
armed forces from 200,000 to an eventual 500,000 troops under arms.
Forced recruitment
is being commonly practiced and has resulted in a doubling of the price
for a substitute. It
now takes 10,000 kyat, up from the earlier price of 5000 Kyats.
Slorc's army bases in the township ordered the wards or villages
in the township to
supply youth for recruitment by quota. The village headman or local ward
leader has to
sent the quota either to the local township LORC or directly to the
bases. According to
private Naing Win (BC. 862213) from Loikaw-based LIB 250 who recently
defected to
the KNPP, Slorc demanded eight youth from each ward in his native
Myingyan township.
His younger brother, studying at school, was selected by lottery but he
decided to enlist in
the army himself to replace his younger brother.
Another defector, Zin Min Thein (BC.963956) from Loikaw -based
LIB.72 also
revealed that he was forced to join the army while he was living at
Minyard Ward, Pa
Daung township, Pegu division.
Many students are selected through the lottery system. In order
to avoid their
being drafted into the army, their parents have to find and pay a
substitute person, for
between 5,000 and 10,000 kyats.
Not only are no allowances made for a youth's lack of physical
strength or
experience, young recruits, in many cases, are deliberately placed in
danger. The casualties
among the youthful new recruits are so high that finding a substitute for
any money has
become difficult. "Those who neither find a substitute nor enlist in the
army face six month
imprisonment," said Naing Win.
Recently, an order to supply three young recruits from each ward
in township for
LIB. 517 based in Shan State's Mine Pun was issued. Similarly, five
hundred new recruits
were demanded in Loikaw township for the military bases in Loikaw.