Fight back or flee? Myanmar draft forces hard choices on youth

FILE PHOTO: Members of the People's Defence Forces (PDF) who became guerrilla fighters after being protesters are seen on the front line in Kawkareik, Myanmar December 19, 2021. Picture taken December 19, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

(Reuters) - Weeks after Myanmar's military government announced a nationwide draft, two young women from far-flung parts of the Southeast Asian country headed to the jungles to take up arms against the junta.

For two men in their 30s in Myanmar's two largest cities, the threat of conscription after the February call-up prompted them to upend their lives and flee to neighbouring Thailand.