Residents of Mon villages along the Gyaing River, on the border of Mon and Karen states, say the military junta and the Mon People’s Militia stationed in the area are jointly demanding money from them under the pretext of military conscription, with no fixed schedule.
Village administrators and members of the Mon Peace Force reportedly collect 30,000 kyat per household each month from Gyaing River residents to cover the 20 million kyat “substitute fee” required for each batch of military conscription training.
A Gyaing River resident said the collectors currently come to homes at no fixed time, and no one can confirm whether the money collected is actually used to hire substitute recruits for military service.
“It’s not just once a month anymore. They come to collect whenever they want, saying it’s on orders from above. Villages on this side have around 2,000 households, so the amount collected isn’t small. Residents are asking where the rest of the money goes. That group is profiting from this, using conscription as the excuse,” the resident said.
The Gyaing River area includes many Mon villages such as Kawt Bein, Kawt Pauk, Kawt Kyaik, Kawtgo, Kawtkhaik, Kannee, Thayettaw, and Kyaikkhabin, each with at least 2,000 households, according to residents.
Village and ward administration bodies and the Mon People’s Militia in the area reportedly tend to recruit people accused of local wrongdoing, as well as travelers from outside the area, as conscripted soldiers.
Residents said the conscription fees have become a source of income for the military junta’s local administrative bodies.
A resident of Kawtkhaik said, “Many parents are willing to pay money just to make sure their children don’t have to go through military conscription. The military group noticed this and started collecting more under the name of conscription fees. Now they come demanding money at any time.”
While the Gyaing River area was under the control of joint revolutionary forces, military recruitment drives could not be carried out.
However, according to residents, after the military junta regained control of parts of the Gyaing River area in 2024, it began conscription-related operations in the region.
