People are trying to flee Myanmar after the country's junta announced compulsory military service. The conscription order comes amid intensified fighting between the military and rebel forces.

Hundreds of people lined up outside the Thai Embassy in Myanmar's largest city of Yangon on Friday. Young citizens and their families were applying for long-term visas, which they see as their ticket out of the country. A 20-year-old man who spoke to NHK said he doesn't want to be a soldier. He hopes to go to school in Thailand.

Under the call-up declared last Saturday, men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 must serve for up to two years. On Wednesday, local media quoted a military spokesperson as saying the induction will start in April, processing 5,000 people a month.

The military seized power in a coup in February 2021.
Since last October, pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups have been ramping up their offensive. The junta is said to be running short of soldiers, as more and more troops are killed or surrender.