Myanmar Youth Crisis: Destructive Toll of War

For more than seven decades, Myanmar has grappled with civil war, military rule, and widespread poverty. Yet, today’s Myanmar youth crisis face an existential threat unlike any before, as their future is crushed under the weight of escalating violence and forced conscription.

The military coup of February 2021 shattered the hopes of young people who once envisioned a stable, democratic future under Aung San Suu Kyi’s leadership. As peaceful protests were met with brutal crackdowns, thousands fled to the jungles to take up arms, while hundreds of thousands more joined the civil disobedience movement, abandoning their studies and livelihoods in defiance of military rule.

Over the past year, Myanmar’s armed resistance has made significant territorial gains, seizing large swathes of land from the military. Yet, the junta still holds major cities like Naypyidaw, Yangon, and Mandalay. As violence surges, opportunities for young people continue to vanish, forcing them into increasingly desperate situations.

The Threat of Forced Conscription

In February 2024, the junta imposed mandatory military service, drafting men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27, with noncompliance punishable by up to five years in prison. In recent months, reports of forced conscription have surged, with young men reportedly abducted to bolster the military’s ranks.

For many, studying abroad remains the only legal escape, as student visas grant temporary exemptions from conscription. However, with Myanmar’s currency in freefall, overseas education has become a privilege only the wealthy can afford. The situation worsened with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) freezing funding for scholarship programs, leaving more than 400 students in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Thailand uncertain about their future. (Myanmar Youth Crisis)

Meanwhile, young people unable to flee face a grim reality. A study by the Burma Affairs & Conflict Study Group, published in April 2024, estimated that within two months of the conscription order, at least 100,000 young men had attempted to evade recruitment. By early 2025, the junta expanded conscription efforts by compiling lists of eligible women, triggering another wave of frantic migration as young women sought to escape forced enlistment.

Those targeted for conscription are also banned from leaving the country for work. Airports, particularly in Yangon, have turned into centers of surveillance, where bribery often dictates who is allowed to leave. For many, internal displacement or illegal border crossings into Thailand have become their only options.

A Nation on the Brink

Amid the crackdown, Myanmar’s armed resistance has vowed a decisive offensive against the junta in 2025. In a January interview with Al Jazeera, Duwa Lashi La, the leader of Myanmar’s government-in-exile, stated, “We have to strike a final blow [against the junta].”

Resistance groups have urged young people to evade conscription and join their ranks. Many have reportedly done so, seeing armed struggle as their only path forward. Yet, this choice comes at a devastating cost—trading one kind of oppression for the perils of war.

The Lasting Impact on Families and Communities

Forced conscription has devastated not only young individuals but also entire communities. A December 2024 study by human rights non-profit HURFOM found that forced recruitment has torn apart families across Mon State, Karen State, and the Tanintharyi region. Generations have been traumatized by violence, and families are making desperate sacrifices to protect their children—selling assets, pawning valuables, and taking on crushing debt.

The situation is even graver for the Rohingya, already stateless and vulnerable. Whether in Myanmar or refugee camps in Bangladesh, they face heightened risks of abduction, forced conscription, and entrapment in the crossfire between the military and resistance forces.

The Future of Myanmar’s Youth and Myanmar Youth Crisis

The long-term consequences of forced conscription are dire. Education is being derailed, careers lost before they can begin, and families drained of resources in a desperate bid to secure a future that is slipping away.

A UN Development Programme study from April 2024 reported that Myanmar’s middle class had shrunk by 50% in the three years following the coup, underscoring the nation’s sharp economic decline. While global attention is focused on the worsening armed conflict and humanitarian crisis, the destruction of Myanmar’s youth is a tragedy that will shape the country for decades to come.

These below are other key issues of Myanmar Youth Crisis:

• Conflict and Displacement:

  Ongoing conflict and violence have led to widespread displacement, with over 3.4 million people internally displaced, and nearly 40% of them being children. 
• Forced Recruitment and Exploitation:

  Myanmar youth are at risk of forced recruitment into fighting, and those who migrate face exploitation and forced labor. 
• Education Crisis:

  Access to education has been severely disrupted, with over 20% of children not attending school in the 2023/2024 academic year. 
• Healthcare and Nutrition:

  Children are missing out on vital immunizations, and there are reports of malnutrition and lack of access to healthcare. 
• Mental Health:

  The crisis has taken a heavy toll on the mental health of Myanmar’s youth, with cultural, economic, and financial stressors intensifying mental health struggles. 
• Humanitarian Needs:

  An estimated 14.4 million people, including 5 million children, are in need of humanitarian assistance. 
• Food Insecurity:

  Hunger has reached alarming levels, with 15 million people projected to face acute food insecurity in 2025. 
• Brain Drain:

  The dire economic and security situation has led to an exodus of Myanmar’s youth, with 3.7 million having migrated to Thailand by 2023.