Myanmar has stopped accepting men’s applications to work abroad to prevent them from avoiding a military conscription law.

The new law intended to beef up the armed forces so it can face rebel offensives has sent thousands of men applying for visas in foreign embassies in Yangon and crossing into Thailand.

The military service law was authored by a previous junta in 2010 but was never implemented.

It allows the military to summon all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 to serve for at least two years.

That law also has a stipulation that, during a state of emergency, the terms of service can be extended up to five years and those ignoring a summons to serve can be jailed for the same period.

The Myanmar junta announced a state of emergency when it seized power in 2021, with the army recently extending it for a further six months.

A first batch of several thousand recruits has already begun training under the law, according to pro-military Telegram accounts.

A junta spokesperson said the law was needed “because of the situation happening in our country,” as it battles both so-called People’s Defense Forces and more long-standing armed groups belonging to ethnic minorities.

Around 13 million people will be eligible to be called up, he said, though the military only has the capacity to train 50,000 a year.

More than 4,900 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent since its February 2021 coup and more than 26,000 others arrested, according to a local monitoring group.