Guardian Weekly

New law sparks fear as potential conscripts try to flee

Across Myanmar, the young and middle aged, both men and women, are desperately searching for ways to flee their homes, after it was announced the military junta will impose a mandatory conscription law from mid-April. The law, which would force people to serve a military many despise, has sent a wave of terror across the country.

Passport offices and embassies in Myanmar have been flooded with applications, with a queue of more than a thousand people on a single day trying to secure a visa for neighbouring Thailand. Helplines offering

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