Tunis: Young people born in the second quarter of 2004 and those born in previous years who have not yet regularised their situation with regard to the law on military service are invited to report voluntarily, with their national identity card, to the regional conscription and mobilisation centres in the cities of Tunis, Sousse, Beja, Gabes and Kasserine. Mobilisation began on June 3 and will continue until July 5. Hatem Soussi, Rear Admiral of the national Navy and director general of conscription and mobilisation at the ministry of national defence, said in a statement to the media at the start of the conscription campaign that the young people concerned were invited to report voluntarily to one of the five centres in order to fulfil their military obligations. Article 31 of the 2004 National Service Act states: "Any citizen who fails to report to regularise his or her situation with regard to the National Service Act, under the provisions of Article 2(1) and Articles 17 and 20 of this Act, shall be dee med to have committed the offence provided for in Article 66 of the Code of Military Justice". This article provides for a prison sentence of up to one year. Anyone who has been sentenced in absentia to imprisonment or a fine for failing to regularise his situation with regard to the National Service Act, whether in the country or abroad, must appear before one of the competent military tribunals (Tunis, Le Kef, Sfax) within the prescribed time limit in order to lodge an appeal and to obtain an order to stop the bolo if one has already been issued. According to Rear Admiral Soussi, young people's dissatisfaction with military service is due to ignorance of the law. The law allows young people to regularise their situation, either temporarily by deferring their military service or definitively by being drafted or exempted, he explained. A one-year deferment can be granted to a person who has a brother doing military service, to a person classified as a "breadwinner", to a person studying or working and livi ng abroad until the age of twenty-eight. Legislation Military service began in 1957, a year after the country's independence, at the same time as the first core of the Tunisian national army was formed. The law of 1967 then made it possible to perform national service in several stages, encouraging regularisation of the situation through a three-month split military service for civil servants and technicians, followed by short periods of conscription and military preparation for students through summer camps. In 1975, it was decided to involve young people more closely in the country's economic and social development by creating two forms of fulfilling national duty: national service within combat units and national service through 'collective assignments' by forming development units organised according to a system of military bases involved in carrying out domestic development projects, or through 'individual assignments' to fill specialist vacancies in priority sectors for public establishments and ser vices, after having received basic military training. This mechanism was then applied in the private sector. The 1986 law, for its part, made it possible to deal with the phenomenon of disaffection for military service by extending the different services within security and development units. This was followed by the enactment of the 2004 Act. The 2004 law on national service aims to prepare citizens to defend the territorial integrity of the homeland, contribute to the country's overall development and promote peace in the world. It also stipulates that all citizens aged 20 must come forward voluntarily to perform national service, and that they remain obliged to do so until the age of 35. The forms of service under this law include active military service to meet the needs of the national army or national service outside armed forces units to meet the needs of global defence and the requirements of national solidarity. The laws on national service have their roots in constitutional rules (1959, 2014, 2 022), emphasising that all citizens have equal rights and duties. Among the duties imposed on every citizen is the duty of national service and the obligation to defend the homeland. Conscription and Mobilisation Anyone recognised as medically unfit cannot perform national service, stressed Rear Admiral Souissi. This is a sine qua non condition, he maintained. At present, compulsory military service applies to those born in 2004 and those from previous years who did not take part in compulsory conscription, he said. Conscription takes place four times a year: in March, June, September and December. Wael Hayouni (19), who came voluntarily from the Bizerte region, said he had taken the decision of his own free will after completing a two-year vocational training course at a centre run by the Ministry of National Defence. My family really encouraged me to do my national service. The same goes for Wissem Farkous (19) from Zaghouan and Mohamed Karim Mathlouthi from Sousse, who both expressed their wish to do national service. A new vision During a visit organised by the Ministry of Defence for journalists, the department's officials emphasised that there is a new vision of military service in line with the country's economic and social reality. This new approach is based on new, more diversified and more flexible legislation governing national service. The specific features of this new vision include proximity to the place of residence, choice of type of service, simplification of administrative measures and digitisation. According to this new approach, military service is divided into a service within the military forces and another outside the military forces, i.e. a specific service that also includes national civic service. The latter is aimed at supporting development and concerns all Tunisians (operatives, senior and technical managers) and is carried out within ministries and public structures or local authorities. The new approach to military service also aims to form the core of a 'logistical rese rve army' in addition to strengthening State structures with the human resources needed to fill vacant posts and implement the Ministry of Defence's strategy (2021-2030). It also aims to offer opportunities for training, professional development and the enhancement of qualifications. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse