View source for Draft evasion

{{short description|Intentional non-compliance with military conscription}}
{{conscription}}
'''Conscription evasion''' or '''draft evasion''' (American English)<ref>{{Cite web |title=draft meaning - Google Search |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=draft&si=ALGXSlZC_jbid1uaZGfc4a798NDvlKr1bLloQYgCcxqj3Zp14qkphQRbHXuJJoZUrvSubkZ-Q7z0gr3yd47eY5r4k6iZ1jPscQ==&expnd=1 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.google.com}}</ref> is any successful attempt to elude a [[conscription|government-imposed obligation]] to serve in the [[military|military forces]] of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation.<ref name=Beare /> Illegal draft evasion is said to have characterized every military conflict of the 20th and 21st centuries, in which at least one party of such conflict has enforced conscription.<ref name=Wittmann /> Such evasion is generally considered to be a criminal offense,<ref name=Beare>Beare, Margaret E., ed. (2012). ''Encyclopedia of Transnational Crime and Justice''.  Sage Publications, p.&nbsp;110 ("Draft Dodging" entry). {{ISBN|978-1-4129-9077-6}}.</ref> and laws against it go back thousands of years.<ref name = Christ />

There are many draft evasion practices. Those that manage to adhere to or circumvent the law, and those that do not involve taking a public stand, are sometimes referred to as '''draft avoidance'''. Draft evaders are sometimes [[pejorative]]ly referred to as '''draft dodgers''',<ref name=Bell>Bell, Walter F.  "Draft Dodgers". In [[Spencer C. Tucker|Tucker, Spencer C.]] (2013). ''American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection''. Santa Barbara, CA: [[ABC-CLIO]], pp.&nbsp;545–546. {{ISBN|978-1-85109-677-0}}.</ref> although in certain contexts that term has also been used non-judgmentally<ref name=Luhn /><ref name=Rachel /> or as an honorific.<ref>Kasinsky, Renée G. (2006). "Fugitives from Injustice: Vietnam War Draft Dodgers and Deserters in British Columbia". In Evans, Sterling, ed. (2006). ''The Borderlands of the American and Canadian West: Essays on Regional History of the Forty-ninth Parallel''. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, p.&nbsp;270. {{ISBN|978-0-8032-1826-0}}.</ref>

Practices that involve lawbreaking or taking a public stand are sometimes referred to as '''draft resistance'''. Although draft resistance is discussed below as a form of "draft evasion", draft resisters and scholars of draft resistance reject the categorization of resistance as a form of evasion or avoidance. Draft resisters argue that they seek to confront, not evade or avoid, the draft.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foley |first1=Michael S. |title=Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War |date=2003 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill, NC |isbn=0-8078-2767-3 |page=6 |url=https://uncpress.org/book/9780807854365/confronting-the-war-machine/ |quote="The blurring of this distinction annoys former draft resisters who today find themselves stressing the difference whenever they talk about it."}}</ref>

Draft evasion has been a significant phenomenon in nations as different as [[Colombia]], [[Eritrea]], [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Russia]], [[South Korea]], [[Syria]], [[Ukraine]] and the [[United States]]. Accounts by scholars and journalists, along with memoiristic writings by draft evaders, indicate that the motives and beliefs of the evaders cannot be usefully stereotyped.

==Draft evasion practices==
[[File:Enemy Activities - Miscellaneous - Anti-draft meeting held by women in Rutgers Square, New York. June, 1917 - NARA - 31480116.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|alt=Crowd of women in a city square|Anti-draft meeting held by women in New York City, 1917]]
Young people have engaged in a wide variety of draft evasion practices around the world, some of which date back thousands of years.<ref name=Prasad>Prasad, Devi; Smythe, Tony, eds. (1968). ''Conscription: A World Survey: Compulsory Military Service and Resistance To It''.  London: [[War Resisters' International]].  {{ISBN|978-0-9500203-1-0}}.</ref><ref name=Christ>Christ, Matthew R. (2006).  ''The Bad Citizen in Classical Athens''. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press, pp.&nbsp;52–57 (from the "Draft Evasion and Compulsory Military Service" section). {{ISBN|978-0-521-73034-1}}.</ref> This section aims to delineate a representative sampling of draft evasion practices and support activities as identified by scholars and journalists. Examples of many of these practices and activities can be found in the section on draft evasion in the nations of the world, further down this page.

===Draft avoidance===
One type of draft avoidance consists of attempts to follow the letter and spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a legally valid draft deferment or exemption.<ref name=Christ /><ref name="Wittmann">Wittmann, Anna M. (2016). ''Talking Conflict: The Loaded Language of Genocide, Political Violence, Terrorism, and Warfare''.  Santa Barbara, CA: [[ABC-CLIO]], pp.&nbsp;115–116 ("Draft Dodgers" entry). {{ISBN|978-1-4408-3424-0}}.</ref> Sometimes these deferments and exemptions are prompted by political considerations.<ref name=Karnow /> Another type consists of attempts to circumvent, manipulate, or surreptitiously violate the substance or spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a deferment or exemption.<ref name=Kusch /><ref>Domínguez, Jorge I. "The Cuban Armed Forces, the Party and Society in Wsartime and During Rectification". In Gillespie, Rihard, ed. (1990).  ''Cuba After Thirty Years: Rectification and the Revolution''. London: Frank Cass & Co., p.&nbsp;47, 51.  {{ISBN|978-0-7146-3390-9}}.</ref> Nearly all attempts at draft avoidance are private and unpublicized.<ref name=Fallows /><ref name=Ferber /> Examples include:

====By adhering to the law====
[[File:U.S. draft lottery.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|alt=Important looking man drawing a capsule from a bowl|US Secretary of War [[Newton D. Baker|Newton Baker]] drawing the first number in the [[World War I]] draft lottery, 1917]]
* Claiming [[conscientious objector]] status on the basis of sincerely held religious or ethical beliefs.<ref name=Gitlin>[[Todd Gitlin|Gitlin, Todd]] (1993, orig. 1987). ''[[The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage]]''.  New York: Bantam, rev. ed., pp.&nbsp;291–292 (beginning of "Varieties of Antiwar Experience" section).  {{ISBN|978-0-553-37212-0}}.</ref><ref>[[Staughton Lynd|Lynd, Staughton]]; Lynd, Alice, eds. (1995).  ''Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History'', rev. ed.  Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, Parts V and VII.  {{ISBN|978-1-57075-010-6}}.</ref>{{refn|name=first|Conscientious objector (CO) status does enable a recipient to avoid military service. However, COs who do not choose to perform non-combatant military service are generally required by their governments to perform civilian alternative service in the public or private sectors – typically conservation, health, or cultural work.<ref>[[Charles Moskos|Moskos, Charles C.]]; Chambers, John Whiteclay, II. "The Secularization of Conscience". In Moskos and Chanbers II, eds., ''The New Conscientious Objection: From Sacred to Secular Resistance''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, p.&nbsp;5.  {{ISBN|978-0-19-507955-5}}.</ref>|group=nb}}
* Claiming a student deferment, when one is in school primarily in order to study and learn.<ref name=Wittmann /><ref>Domínguez, in Gillespie, ed. (1990), p.&nbsp;51.</ref><ref name=Karnow /><ref name=Kusch>[[Frank Kusch|Kusch, Frank]] (2001). ''All American Boys: Draft Dodgers in Canada from the Vietnam War''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, pp.&nbsp;70–74.  {{ISBN|978-0-470-85104-3}}.</ref>
* Claiming a medical or psychological problem, if the purported health issue is genuine and serious.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Wittmann />
* Claiming to be [[homosexuality|homosexual]], when one is truly so and the military excludes homosexuals.<ref>[[Lawrence Baskir|Baskir, Lawrence M.]]; [[William Strauss|Strauss, William A.]] (1987). ''Chance and Circumstance: The Draft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p.&nbsp;45.  {{ISBN|978-0-394-41275-7}}.</ref>
* Claiming economic hardship, if the hardship is genuine and the law recognizes such a claim.<ref>Palmer, Brandon (2013). ''Fighting for the Enemy: Koreans in Japan's War, 1937–1945''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, p.&nbsp;113. {{ISBN|978-0-295-99258-7}}.</ref>
* Holding a job in what the government considers to be an essential civilian occupation.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Wittmann />
* Purchasing exemptions from military service, in nations where such payments are permitted.<ref name=Duxbury>[[Neil Duxbury|Duxbury, Neil]] (2002). ''Random Justice: On Lotteries and Legal Decision-Making''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.&nbsp;154–155 (citing 19th century Belgium and France, as well as America during the Civil War). {{ISBN|978-0-19-925353-1}}.</ref>
* Not being chosen in a [[Draft lottery (1969)|draft lottery]], where lotteries determine the order of call to military service;<ref name=Fallows>[[James Fallows|Fallows, James]] (1977). "What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?" In Robbins, Mary Susannah, ed. (2007, orig. 1999). ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists''.  London and Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.&nbsp;159–164. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5914-1}}.</ref> or not being in a certain age group, where age determines the order of call.<ref name=Christ />
* Not being able to afford armor or other equipment, in polities where conscripts were required to provide their own.<ref name=Christ />

====By circumventing the law====
[[File:Britain's Home Front 1939 - 1945- Conscientious Objectors HU62359.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|alt=Panel appearing to consist of judges and COs|Tribunal for conscientious objectors in Britain during [[World War II]]]]
* Obtaining conscientious objector status by professing insincere religious or ethical beliefs.<ref name=Kusch />{{refn||name=first|group=nb}}
* Obtaining a student deferment, if the student wishes to attend or remain in school largely to avoid the draft.<ref name=Braw />
* Claiming a medical or psychological problem, if the purported problem is feigned, overstated, or self-inflicted.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Wittmann /><ref name=Kusch /><ref name=Fallows />
* Finding a doctor who would certify a healthy draft-age person as medically unfit, either willingly or for pay.<ref name=Lawrence>Baskir and Strauss (1987), p.&nbsp;12.</ref>
* Deliberately [[Self-harm|self-injuring]] oneself.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/videos-show-russian-men-breaking-limbs-avoid-conscription-1748836 |title=Videos Show Russian Men Breaking Limbs to Avoid Conscription |last=Bickerton |first=James |date=4 October 2022 |website=Newsweek |publisher=Newsweek |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref>
* Becoming pregnant primarily in order to evade the draft, in nations where women who are not mothers are drafted.<ref name=CL />
* Falsely claiming to be homosexual, where the military excludes homosexuals.<ref name=Kusch />
* Deliberately failing one's military-related intelligence tests.<ref name=Kusch />
* Claiming economic hardship, if the purported hardship is overstated.<ref>Dunn, Clive; Dunn, Gillian (2014).  ''Sunderland in the Great War''.  Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword Books, p.&nbsp;49 (reporting on a British grocer who was refused a financial exemption, and was given a two-month "extension" instead).  {{ISBN|978-1-78346-286-5}}.</ref>
* Having someone exert personal influence on an officer in charge of the conscription process.<ref name=Christ />
* Successfully [[bribery|bribing]] an officer in charge of the conscription process.<ref name=Braw /><ref name=Lawrence />

===Draft resistance===
[[File:Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Head shot of mistrustful-looking young black man|[[Muhammad Ali]] refused induction in 1967.<ref>{{ISBN|978-0-671-77971-9}}.</ref>|205x205px]]
Draft evasion that involves overt lawbreaking or that communicates conscious or organized resistance to government policy is sometimes referred to as draft resistance.<ref name=Ferber>[[Michael Ferber|Ferber, Michael]] (1998). "Why I Joined the Resistance". In Robbins, Mary Susannah, ed. (2007, orig. 1999). ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists''. London and Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.&nbsp;111–119. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5914-1}}.</ref><ref name=Foley>Foley, Michael S. (2003).  ''Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War''. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, pp. 6–7, 39, 49, 78. {{ISBN|978-0-8078-5436-5}}.</ref><ref>Sauers, Richard A.; Tomasak, Peter (2012). ''The Fishing Creek Confederacy: A Story of Civil War Draft Resistance''. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8262-1988-6}}.</ref> Examples include:

====Actions by resisters====
* Declining to register for the draft, in nations where that is required by law.<ref name=Gitlin /><ref name=Braw />
* Declining to report for one's draft-related physical examination, or for military induction or call-up, in nations where these are required by law.<ref>Christ (2006), pp.&nbsp;59, 62.</ref><ref name=Luhn />
* Participating in draft card burnings or turn-ins.<ref name=Gitlin /><ref>[[Michael Ferber|Ferber, Michael]] (1967). "A Time to Say No". In Robbins, Mary Susannah, ed.  (2007, orig. 1999). ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists''.  London and Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p.&nbsp;120. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5914-1}}.</ref>
* Living "underground" (e.g., living with false identification papers) and working at an [[unreported employment|unreported job]] after being indicted for draft evasion.<ref name=Gitlin />
* Traveling or emigrating to another country, rather than submitting to induction or to trial.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Williams>Williams, Roger N. (1971). ''The New Exiles: American War Resisters in Canada''. New York: Liveright Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-87140-533-3}}.</ref>
* Going to jail, rather than submitting to induction or to alternative government service.<ref>[[Stephen M. Kohn|Kohn, Stephen M.]] (1987). ''Jailed for Peace: The History of American Draft Law Violators, 1658 –1985''.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-275-92776-9}}.</ref><ref>[[David Harris (protester)|Harris, David]] (1976). ''I Shoulda Been Home Yesterday: 20 Months in Jail for Not Killing Anybody''. New York: Delacorte / Dell. {{ISBN|978-0-440-04156-6}}.</ref>
* Shooting and/or killing draft officers and civil authorities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ladden-Hall |first=Dan |date=2022-09-26 |title=Desperate Russian Shoots Recruitment Officer Instead of Signing up to Fight in Ukraine |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-war-protester-shoots-commander-trying-to-draft-citizens |access-date=2023-07-30}}</ref>

====Actions by supporters or resisters====
[[File:New York Draft Riots - fighting.jpg|thumb|In 1863, [[New York City draft riots|anti-draft riots]] broke out in New York City.<ref name=Cook />]]
* Organizing or participating in a peaceful street assembly or demonstration against the draft.<ref name=Gitlin />
* Publicly encouraging, aiding, or abetting draft evaders.<ref name=Gitlin />
* Deliberately disrupting a military draft agency's processes or procedures.<ref name=Kusch /><ref>Dowell, LeiLani, et al. (2006). ''We Won't Go!: The Truth on Military Recruiters and the Draft – a Guide to Resistance''. New York: [[International Action Center]].  {{ISBN|978-0-9747521-1-2}}.</ref>
* Destroying a military draft agency's records.<ref name=Gitlin /><ref>Lynd and Lynd, eds. (1995), Chap. 35 ("Ultra Resistance").</ref><ref>Peters, Shawn Francis (2012). ''The Catonsville Nine: A Story of Faith and Resistance in the Vietnam Era''. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN| 978-0-19-982785-5}}.</ref>
* Organizing or participating in a riot against the draft.<ref name=Cook>Cook, Adrian (2014, orig. 1982).  ''The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863''. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.  {{ISBN|978-0-8131-5182-3}}.</ref><ref>Dennis, Patrick M. (2017). ''Reluctant Warriors: Canadian Conscripts and the Great War''.  Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp.&nbsp;56–57 ("Insurrection" section).  {{ISBN|978-0-7748-3597-8}}.</ref>
* Building an [[anti-war movement]] that treats draft resistance as a vital and integral part of it.<ref name=Ferber /><ref name=Foley />

==By country==
Draft evasion is said to have characterized every military conflict of the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref name=Wittmann /> Laws against certain draft evasion practices go back at least as far as the ancient Greeks.<ref>Arnaoutoglou, Ilias (1998).  ''Ancient Greek Laws: A Sourcebook''.  New York: Routledge, p.&nbsp;75 (citing [[Demosthenes]]).  {{ISBN|978-0-415-14985-3}}.</ref> Examples of draft evasion can be found in many nations over many time periods:
===Australia===
{{Main|Conscription in Australia|Draft evasion in the Vietnam War}}
Australian men were conscripted to fight in the [[Vietnam War]]; as in the U.S., this was resisted.
===Belgium===
19th-century Belgium was one of the few places where most citizens accepted the practice of legally buying one's way out of the military draft, sometimes referred to as the practice of "purchasable military commutation".<ref name=Duxbury /> Even so, some Belgian politicians denounced it as a system that appeared to trade the money of the rich for the lives of the poor.<ref name=Duxbury />

===Britain===
In January 1916, during World War I, the British government passed a military conscription bill. By July of that year, 30% of draftees had failed to report for service.<ref name=Wittmann />

===Canada===
Canada employed a military draft during World Wars I and II, and some Canadians chose to evade it. According to Canadian historian [[J. L. Granatstein|Jack Granatstein]], "no single issue has divided Canadians so sharply" as the military draft.<ref name=Broken>Granatstein, J. L.; Hitsman, J. M. (2017, orig. 1977).  ''Broken Promises: A History of Conscription in Canada''. Oakville, Ontario: Rock's Mills Press (orig. Toronto: Oxford University Press), p.&nbsp;v. {{ISBN|978-1-77244-013-3}}.</ref> During both World Wars, political parties collapsed or were torn apart over the draft issue, and ethnicity seeped into the equation, with most French Canadians opposing conscription and a majority of English Canadians accepting it.<ref name=Broken /> During both wars, riots and draft evasion followed the passage of the draft laws.<ref name=Broken />

====World War I====
[[File:Anti-conscription parade at Victoria Square.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|alt=Masses of people on big-city street.|Anti-conscription march in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 1917]]
Conscription had been a dividing force in Canadian politics during World War I, and those divisions led to the [[Conscription Crisis of 1917]]. Canadians objected to conscription for diverse reasons: some thought it unnecessary, some did not identify with the British, and some felt it imposed unfair burdens on economically struggling segments of society.<ref>Tough, David. "A Better Truth: The Democratic Legacy of Resistance to Conscription, 1917–1921". In Campbell, Lara; Dawson, Michael; Gidney, Catherine, eds. (2015), ''Worth Fighting For: Canada's Tradition of War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror''. Toronto: Between the Lines Books, Chap. 5. {{ISBN|978-1-77113-179-7}}.</ref> When the first draft class (single men between 20 and 34 years of age) was called up in 1917, nearly 281,000 of the approximately 404,000 men filed for exemptions.<ref>[[Desmond Morton (historian)|Morton, Desmond]] (1999). ''A Military History of Canada''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 4th ed., p.&nbsp;156. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-6514-9}}.</ref> Throughout the war, some Canadians who feared conscription left for the United States or elsewhere.<ref>Dennis (2017), cited in "Draft evasion practices" section above, pp. 31, 46, 47.</ref>

====World War II====
Canada introduced an innovative kind of draft law in 1940 with the [[National Resources Mobilization Act]].<ref name=Byers>Byers, David (2017). ''Zombie Army: The Canadian Army and Conscription in the Second World War''. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, Part 2. {{ISBN|978-0-7748-3052-2}}.</ref> While the move was not unpopular outside French Canada, controversy arose because under the new law, conscripts were not compelled to serve outside Canada. They could choose simply to defend the country against invasion.<ref name=Byers /> By the middle of the war, many Canadians – not least of all, conscripts committed to overseas service – were referring to NRMA men pejoratively as "Zombies", that is, as dead-to-life or utterly useless.<ref>Byers (2017), pp.&nbsp;6, 160, 234.</ref> Following costly fighting in [[Italian campaign (World War II)|Italy]], [[Operation Overlord|Normandy]], and [[Battle of the Scheldt|the Scheldt]], overseas Canadian troops were depleted, and during the [[Conscription Crisis of 1944]] a one-time levy of approximately 17,000 NRMA men was sent to fight abroad.<ref name=Two>Granatstein, J. L.; Morton, Desmond (2003). ''Canada and the Two World Wars''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, pp. 309–311. {{ISBN|978-1-55263-509-4}}.</ref> Many NRMA men deserted after the levy rather than fight abroad.<ref name=Two /> One brigade of NRMA men declared itself on "strike" after the levy.<ref name=Two />

The number of men who actively sought to evade the World War II draft in Canada is not known. Granatstein says the evasion was "widespread".<ref name=Broken /> In addition, in 1944 alone approximately 60,000 draftees were serving only as NRMA men, committed to border defense but not to fighting abroad.<ref name=Two />

===Colombia===
Colombia maintains a large and well-funded military, often focused on [[counter-insurgency]].<ref>Jaskoski, Maiah (2013). ''Military Politics and Democracy in the Andes''. Johns Hopkins University Press, pp.&nbsp;186–188. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0907-8}}.</ref> There is an obligatory military draft for all young men.<ref name=Otis>Otis, John (13 June 2014). "[https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-06-13/draft-evasion-alive-and-well-colombia-and-its-issue-presidential-race  Draft Evasion Is Alive and Well in Colombia]". [[Public Radio International]], website article. Retrieved 28 December 2018.</ref> Nevertheless, according to [[Public Radio International]], two types of draft evasion are widespread in Colombia; one is prevalent among the relatively well-off, and another is found among the poor.<ref name=Otis />

Young men from the middle-to-upper classes "usually" evade the Colombian draft.<ref name=Otis /> They do so by obtaining college or medical deferments, or by paying bribes for a "military ID card" certifying they have served – a card that is often requested by potential employers.<ref name=Otis />

Young men from poorer circumstances sometimes simply avoid showing up for the draft and attempt to function without a military ID card. Besides facing limited employment prospects, these men are vulnerable to being forced into service through periodic army sweeps of poor neighborhoods.<ref name=Otis />

===Eritrea===
Eritrea instituted a military draft in 1995. Three years later, it became open-ended; everyone under 50 [sic] can be enlisted for an indefinite period of time.<ref name=CL>{{cite news |author=C.L. |date=10 March 2014 |url=https://www.economist.com/baobab/2014/03/10/miserable-and-useless |title=Miserable and Useless |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |access-date=13 January 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> According to ''[[The Economist]]'', "release can depend on the arbitrary whim of a commander, and usually takes years".<ref name=CL />

It is illegal for Eritreans to leave the country without government permission.<ref name=CL /> Nevertheless, in the mid-2010s around 2,000 Eritreans were leaving every month, "primarily to avoid the draft", according to ''The Economist''.<ref name=CL /> [[Human rights group]]s and the [[United Nations]] have also claimed that Eritrea's draft policies are fueling the migration.<ref name=Manek>{{cite news |last=Manek |first=Nizar |date=3 September 2018 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-02/eritrea-may-change-army-draft-that-spurred-thousands-to-europe |title=Eritrea May Alter Army Draft That Forced Thousands to Europe |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=13 January 2019}}</ref> Most leave for Europe or neighboring countries; in 2015, Eritreans were the fourth largest group illicitly crossing the Mediterranean for Europe.<ref name=Manek />

Mothers are usually excused from the Eritrean draft. ''The Economist'' says that, as a result, pregnancies among single women – once a taboo in Eritrea – have increased.<ref name=CL />

A 2018 article in [[Bloomberg News]] reported that Eritrea was considering altering some of its military draft policies.<ref name=Manek />

===Finland===
During World War II, there was no legal way to avoid the draft, and failure to obey was treated as insubordination or [[desertion]], punished by execution or jail. Draft evaders were forced to escape to the forests and live there as outlaws, in a practice that was facetiously called serving in the ''käpykaarti'' (Pine Cone Guard) or ''metsäkaarti'' (Forest Guard).<ref name="Tasala2000">Tasala, Markku (2000)  ''Metsäkaarti: Kolarin metsäkaartin jatkosota ja rauha''. Oulu, Finland: Pohjoinen. {{ISBN|978-951-749-341-3}}.</ref>

Approximately 1,500 men failed to show up for the draft at the start of the [[Continuation War]] (1941–1944, pitting Finland against the Soviet Union), and 32,186 cases of desertion were handled by the courts.<ref name="Kulomaa1995">Kulomaa, Jukka (1995). ''Käpykaartiin? 1941–1944: sotilaskarkuruus Suomen armeijassa jatkosodan aikana''. Helsinki: Painatuskeskus. {{ISBN|978-951-37-1754-4}}.</ref> There were numerous reasons for draft evasion and desertion during this period: fear or war-weariness,<ref name="Kulomaa2008">Kulomaa, Jukka; Nieminen, Jarmo, toim. (2008). ''Teloitettu totuus: kesä 1944''. Helsinki: Ajatus kirjat.  {{ISBN|978-951-20-7772-4}}.</ref> objection to the war as an offensive war,<ref name="Tasala2000" /> ideological objections or outright support for Communism.<ref name="Kulomaa2008" /> Finnish Communists were considered dangerous and could not serve, and were subject to "protective custody" – in practice, detention in a prison for the course of the war – because earlier attempts to conscript them had ended in disaster: one battalion called ''Pärmin pataljoona'' assembled from detained Communists suffered a large-scale defection to the Soviet side.

The ''käpykaarti'' (forest-dwelling Pine Cone Guard, mentioned above) was a diverse group including draft evaders, deserters, Communists, and Soviet [[desant]]s (military skydivers).<ref name="Rislakki1986" /> They lived in small groups, sometimes even in military-style dugouts constructed from logs,<ref name="Tasala2000" /><ref name="Rislakki1986">Rislakki, Jukka (1986). ''Maan alla: Vakoilua, vastarintaa ja urkintaa Suomessa 1941–1944''. Helsinki: Love Kirjat. {{ISBN|978-951-835-099-9 }}.</ref> and often maintained a rotation to guard their camps. They received support from sympathizers who could buy from the black market; failing that, they stole provisions to feed themselves.<ref name="yle2015">"[https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2015/10/11/muisti-metsakaartilaiset Muisti: Metsäkaartilaiset. TV1 torstaina 20.4.2017 ]" (11 October 2015). Finnish-language website. Retrieved 10 February 2018.</ref> The Finnish Army and police actively searched for them, and if discovered, a firefight often ensued.<ref name="yle2013AK">"[https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-6487122 Hitleriä vastaan sodittiin Suomessa hajanaisesti. Ajankohtainen Kakkonen]" (13 February 2013). Finnish-language website. Retrieved 10 February 2018.</ref> The [[Communist Party of Finland|Finnish Communist Party]] was able to operate among draft evaders.<ref name="Rislakki1986" /><ref>Selin, Sakari (2011). ''[http://www.ksl.fi/files/muisti/sakari10.htm Kun valtiopetos oli isänmaallinen teko] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220141328/http://www.ksl.fi/files/muisti/sakari10.htm |date=2007-12-20 }}''. Työväen historian ja perinteen tutkimuksen seura, Helsinki 2011, 357 s. Finnish-language website.  Retrieved 10 February 2018.</ref> Sixty-three death sentences were handed out to deserters; however, many of them were killed in military or police raids on their camps. Deserters captured near front lines would often be simply returned to the lines, but as the military situation deteriorated towards the end of the war, punishments were harsher: 61 of the death sentences given were in 1944, mostly in June and July during the [[Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive|Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive]], where Finnish forces were forced to retreat.<ref name="Julkunen1982">Julkunen, Martti. "Taistelutahto ristipaineissa". In Vehviläinen, Olli, ed. (1982).  ''Jatkosodan kujanjuoksu''. Porvoo, Finland: WSOY. {{ISBN|978-951-0-11164-2}}.</ref>

At the conclusion of the war, the [[Allied Commission|Allied Control Commission]] immediately demanded an amnesty for draft evaders, and they were not further punished.<ref name="yle2015" />

As of 2020, deliberate draft evasion is a rare phenomenon, since absence from a drafting event, in most cases, leads to an immediate search warrant. Evaders are taken by police officers to the draft board, or to the regional military office.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/a/2015081720190379| title = Kutsunnat alkavat tänään - näin käy, jos ei ilmesty paikalle}}</ref>

===France===
In France, the right of all draftees to purchase military exemption – introduced after the [[French Revolution]] – was abolished in 1870.<ref name=Duxbury /> One scholar refers to the permissible buy-out as a "bastard form of equality" that bore traces of the [[Ancien Régime]].<ref>Duxbury (1999), p.&nbsp;154 (discussing scholar Nuria Sales de Bohigas).</ref>

====Napoleonic era====
Draft evasion was a big problem for the French military under [[Napoleon]].<ref name=cambridgedraft/> Near the start of the [[Napoleonic Era]] (encompassing the [[Napoleonic Wars]]), it was estimated that about 200,000<ref name="cambridgedraft">{{cite journal |last1=Rouanet |first1=Louis |last2=Piano |first2=Ennio E. |title=Drafting the Great Army: The Political Economy of Conscription in Napoleonic France |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/drafting-the-great-army-the-political-economy-of-conscription-in-napoleonic-france/FDBA5D70BC85C24186EF7C9767D249BF |journal=The Journal of Economic History |access-date=9 October 2024 |pages=1057–1100 |language=en |doi=10.1017/S0022050723000360 |date=December 2023|volume=83 |issue=4 |doi-access=free }}</ref> people had either evaded a draft or deserted from the military, due to the surge in conscription; possibly facing harsh consequences.<ref name=etsufra/> Around 1808, in the middle of the military conflict, the number was closer to 500,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Conscription 1808 |url=https://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/legislation/c_conscription.html |website=www.napoleon-series.org}}</ref> Around this time period, a [[gendarmerie]] was assembled, aiming to hunt for the people who deserted the military or dodged drafts; the French also enforced the mandatory carrying of passports, among other measures.<ref name="fracondes">{{cite web |last1=Grab |first1=Alexander |title=Conscription and Desertion in France and Italy under Napoleon |url=https://perspectivia.net/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/pnet_derivate_00002421/Grab_Conscription.pdf |website=Perspectivia |publisher=German Historical Institute in Rome |access-date=9 October 2024}}</ref><ref name="etsufra">{{cite web |last1=Lyle |first1=Julia A. |title=The Grass-Roots Challenges with Administration: Conscription Evasion, Contr asion, Contraband, and Resistance in Napoleonic E aband, and Resistance in Napoleonic Europe |url=https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2389&context=etd |website=East Tennessee State University |access-date=9 October 2024}}</ref>

===Israel===
{{main|Refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces}}
[[File:Aviv Geffen AG.jpg|thumb|295x295px|Rock star [[Aviv Geffen]] is one of several Israeli entertainers who have encouraged draft evasion.<ref name=Hilliard />]]
There has always been a military draft in Israel.<ref name=Neack>Neack, Laura (2014). ''The New Foreign Policy: Complex Interventions, Competing Interests'', 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p.&nbsp;101.  {{ISBN|978-1-4422-2007-2}}.</ref><ref name=Simon>Simon, Rita J.; Abdel-Moneim, Mohamed Alaa (2011). ''A Handbook of Military Conscription and Composition the World Over''. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 133–135. {{ISBN|978-0-7391-6751-9}}.</ref> It is universal for all non-Arab Israeli citizens, men and women alike, and can legally be evaded only on physical or psychological grounds or by [[Haredi Judaism|strictly Orthodox Jews]], although the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to reject the latter exception in June 2024.<ref name=Neack /><ref name=Simon /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldenberg |first=Tia |date=2024-06-25 |title=Israel's high court orders the army to draft ultra-Orthodox men, rattling Netanyahu's government |url=https://www.cbs42.com/news/international/ap-israeli-supreme-court-says-ultra-orthodox-must-serve-in-military/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=CBS 42 |language=en-US}}</ref> The draft has become part of the fabric of Israeli society: according to ''Le Monde'' senior editor [[Sylvain Cypel]], Israel is a place where military service is seen not just as a duty but a "certificate of entry into active life".<ref>[[Sylvain Cypel|Cypel, Sylvain]] (2007). ''Walled: Israeli Society at an Impasse''. New York: Other Press, p.&nbsp;405.  {{ISBN|978-1-59051-210-4}}.</ref>

Yet by the middle of the decade of the 2000s, draft evasion (including outright draft refusal) and desertion had reached all-time highs.<ref name=Hilliard>Hilliard, Constance (2009). ''Does Israel Have a Future? The Case for a Post-Zionist State''. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, pp. 68–69. {{ISBN|978-1-59797-234-5}}.</ref> Fully 5% of young men and 3% of young women were supposedly failing their pre-military psychological tests, both all-time highs.<ref name=Hilliard /> Some popular entertainers, including rock star [[Aviv Geffen]], grand-nephew of military hero [[Moshe Dayan]], have been encouraging draft evasion (Geffen publicly said he would commit suicide if he were taken by the military).<ref name=Hilliard /> In 2007 the Israeli government initiated what some called a "shaming campaign", banning young entertainers from holding concerts and making television appearances if they failed to fulfill their military requirement.<ref name=Hilliard /> By 2008 over 3,000 high school students belonged to "Shministim" (Hebrew for twelfth graders), a group of young people claiming to be conscientiously opposed to military service.<ref name=Hilliard /> American actor [[Ed Asner]] wrote a column supporting the group.<ref>[[Ed Asner|Asner, Ed]] (no date given). "[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-asner/shminisitim_b_150043.html  The Shministim]".  ''[[HuffPost]]''’ (formerly ''Huffington Post'') website. Retrieved 17 February 2018.</ref> Another group, [[New Profile]], was started by Israeli peace activists to encourage draft refusal.<ref name=Hilliard />

[[University of Manchester]] sociologist Yulia Zemilinskaya has interviewed members of New Profile and Shministim, along with members of two groups of Israeli soldiers and reservists who have expressed an unwillingness to engage in missions they disapprove of – [[Yesh Gvul]] and [[Ometz LeSarev|Courage to Refuse]].<ref name=Yulia>Zemilinskaya, Yulia (December 2010).  "[http://www.cejiss.org/static/data/uploaded/13835988497028/Y.Zemlinskaya_between_militarism_and_pacifism.pdf Between Militarism and Pacifism: Conscientious Objection and Draft Resistance in Israel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202102815/http://www.cejiss.org/static/data/uploaded/13835988497028/Y.Zemlinskaya_between_militarism_and_pacifism.pdf |date=2017-12-02 }}". ''[[Central European Journal of International and Security Studies]]'', issue 2:1, pp.&nbsp;9–35. Retrieved 17 February 2018.</ref> Despite commonalities, she found a difference between the draft refusers and the military selective-refusers:

<blockquote>The analysis of these interviews demonstrated that, in their appeal to [the] Israeli public, members of Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse utilized symbolic meanings and codes derived from dominant militarist and nationalist discourses. In contrast, draft-resisters, members of New Profile and Shministim, refusing to manipulate nationalistic and militaristic codes, voice a much more radical and comprehensive critique of the state’s war making plans. Invoking feminist, anti-militarist and pacifist ideologies, they openly challenge and criticize dominant militarist and Zionist discourses. While the majority of members of Yesh Gvul and Courage to Refuse choose selective refusal, negotiating conditions of their reserve duty, [the] anti-militarist, pacifist, and feminist ideological stance of members of New Profile and Shministim leads them to absolutist refusal.<ref>Zemilinskaya (December 2010), p.&nbsp;9.</ref></blockquote>

===Russia/Soviet Union===
[[File:Zelenograd. Military registration and enlistment office.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Draft registration office near Moscow. In the mid-2010s, half of all eligible Russians called up were reported to be evading service.<ref name=Braw />]]
According to London-based journalist Elisabeth Braw, writing in ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', draft evasion was "endemic" in the Soviet Union during the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], which ended with Soviet defeat in 1989.<ref name=Braw>Braw, Elisabeth (9 November 2015). "[https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/2015-11-09/russians-dodge-bullet Russians Dodge a Bullet: How Young Russian Men Avoid the Draft]".  ''[[Foreign Affairs]]'', Web-based content. Retrieved 28 November 2017.</ref> A declassified [[Central Intelligence Agency]] report revealed that the Soviet elite routinely bribed its sons' way out of deployment to Afghanistan, or out of military service altogether.<ref name=Braw />

In Russia, all men aged 18 through 30 are subject to the military draft, continuing the Soviet practice.<ref name=Braw /> According to a report from the European Parliamentary Research Service, an organ of the [[Secretariat of the European Parliament]], in the mid-2010s fully half of the 150,000 young men called up each year were thought to be evading the draft.<ref name=Braw /> During [[Dmitry Medvedev]]'s presidency, the service duration was reduced from two years to one.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/21/04/2006/5703bc029a7947afa08c9cd3 | title=Госдума сократила срок службы в армии и отменила отсрочки | date=21 April 2006 }}</ref>

====Invasion of Ukraine====
In September 2022, during the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] over 600,000 mobilization-eligible citizens [[Russian emigration during the Russian invasion of Ukraine|left the country]] to avoid the draft.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |date=2022-10-05 |title=Russians Fleeing the Draft Find an Unlikely Haven |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/world/asia/russians-fleeing-draft-kyrgyzstan-putin.html |access-date=2022-10-09 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Russians fleeing Putin's military draft |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2022/10/3/the-russians-fleeing-putins-military-draft |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> Reportedly, [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Kazakhstan]], and [[Mongolia]] became primary, [[Travel visa|visa-free]] destinations for Russians seeking to avoid President [[Vladimir Putin|Vladimir Putin’s]] [[2022 Russian mobilization|mobilization order]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ray |first=Siladitya |title='Hopeless Situation': Thousands Of Russians Flee To Neighboring Countries To Avoid Putin's Military Draft |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/09/27/hopeless-situation-thousands-of-russians-flee-to-neighboring-countries-to-avoid-putins-military-draft/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hagstrom |first=Anders |date=2022-09-27 |title=Russia's neighbors see surge of migrants as men flee Putin's draft |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/russias-neighbors-see-surge-migrants-men-flee-putins-draft |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Finland]], [[Poland]] and the [[Baltic Countries|Baltic countries]] announced they will not offer refuge to Russians fleeing mobilization.<ref name="cbc-exodus">{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Chris |date=27 September 2022 |title=As masses flee Russia to avoid conscription, European neighbours grapple with whether to let them in |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-draft-flee-border-1.6597416}}</ref>

In January 2023, Kazakhstan announced they were tightening visa rules, a move that is expected to make it more difficult for Russians to remain in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebel |first=Francesca |date=January 17, 2023 |title=Kazakhstan tightens visa rules, setting limits for Russians fleeing war duty |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/17/kazakhstan-visas-russia-war-ukraine/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301112336/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/17/kazakhstan-visas-russia-war-ukraine/ |archive-date=1 March 2023 |access-date=2023-07-26 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en}}</ref> Kazakhstan said it would extradite Russians wanted for evading mobilization.<ref>{{cite news |last=Najibullah |first=Farangis |date=22 January 2023 |title=Living In Fear Of The Draft, Russian Emigres In Kazakhstan Have No Plans To Go Home |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-russian-emigres-ukraine-war/32234453.html}}</ref> In early 2023, the [[Presidency of Joe Biden|Biden administration]] resumed deportations of Russians who had fled Russia due to mobilization and political persecution.<ref>{{cite news |title=The White House told Russians to flee here instead of fighting Ukraine. Then the U.S. tried to deport them |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-08-17/russian-conscripts-asylum-biden-putin |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 17, 2023}}</ref> Kazakhstan and [[Kyrgyzstan]] agreed to share personal data of Russians fleeing mobilization.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Share Data with Moscow on Anti-War Russians, Conscripts |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/06/22/kazakhstan-and-kyrgyzstan-to-share-data-with-moscow-on-anti-war-russians-conscripts-a81594 |work=The Moscow Times |date=22 June 2023}}</ref>

===South Korea===
South Korea maintains [[Conscription in South Korea|mandatory military service]].<ref name=Eun-jee /><ref name=Ryall /> According to the ''[[Korea JoongAng Daily]]'', since the early 2000s, the country has been rocked by scandals involving celebrities who try to use their fame to evade the draft or receive special treatment from the military.<ref name=Eun-jee>Eun-jee, Park (16 January 2013). "[http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2965560 Military Service Mischief a Losing Battle]". ''[[Korea JoongAng Daily]]'' (English-language version of Seoul-based South Korean newspaper). Retrieved 29 June 2019.</ref> South Koreans are reportedly so hostile to draft evasion that one South Korean commentator said that it is "almost like suicide" for celebrities to engage in it.<ref>Eun-jee (16 January 2013), cited above, quoting South Korean columnist Jeong Deok-hyun.</ref> [[Yoo Seung-jun]] was one of the biggest stars on the South Korean rock scene until 2002, when he chose to evade the draft and become a U.S. citizen. South Korea subsequently deported him and banned him for life.<ref name=Eun-jee />

Some South Korean draft evaders have been sentenced to prison. In 2014, ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' ran a headline claiming that South Korea had the "most draft dodgers in prison".<ref>Kirk, Donald (8 April 2014). "[https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2014/0408/Another-South-Korean-superlative-Most-draft-dodgers-in-prison Another South Korean Superlative: Most Draft Dodgers in Prison]". ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', p.&nbsp;8. Retrieved 27 November 2017.</ref> The article, by veteran correspondent [[Donald Kirk]], explained that South Korea's government did not allow for [[Conscientious objector|conscientious objection]] to war; as a result, 669 mostly religiously motivated South Koreans were said to be in jail for draft evasion in 2013. Only 723 draft evaders were said to be in jail worldwide at that time.<ref>Kirk (8 April 2014), p.&nbsp;8 (citing figures from the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]]).</ref>

According to the ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' (Hong Kong), in June 2013 [[:ko:이예다|Lee Yeda]] became the first South Korean to be granted asylum specifically because he evaded the South Korean draft. His asylum claim was granted by France. "[In South] Korea, it is ... difficult to find a job for anyone who has not completed their national service," Lee was reported to have said. "Refusing to serve means that, in society, your life is terminated."<ref name=Ryall>Ryall, Julian (7 December 2013) "[https://www.scmp.com/print/magazines/post-magazine/article/1679867/flight-or-fight-conscription-misery-south-korea Flight or Fight: Conscription Misery in South Korea]". ''[[South China Morning Post]]'' (Hong Kong), magazine section. Retrieved 30 June 2019.</ref>

===Syria===
[[File:Syria- two years of tragedy (8642756918).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|alt=Bombed-out big city street|Aleppo during the [[Syrian civil war|Syrian Civil War]]. By 2016, 70,000 draft evaders had fled Syria,<ref name=Khan /> while others remained undetected inside it.<ref name=Bulos />]]
Syria requires men over 18 to serve in the army for two years (except for college graduates, who need serve only 18 months). Draft evasion carries stiff punishments, including fines and years of imprisonment.<ref name=Bulos>Bulos, Nabih (9 October 2018). "[http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-syria-amnesty-20181009-story.html  Syria's Assad Grants Amnesty to Army Deserters and Draft Dodgers]". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', online.  Retrieved 18 October 2018. Identical article appeared in the print edition as "Syria Offers Amnesty to Army Deserters" (10 October 2018), p.&nbsp;A4.</ref> After the [[Syrian Civil War]] broke out in 2011, many draft-age men began fleeing the country, sometimes paying thousands of dollars to be smuggled out. Others paid to have their names expunged from the draft rolls.<ref name=Bulos /> Meanwhile, the government erected billboards exhorting young people to join the army – and set up road checkpoints to capture draft evaders.<ref name=Bulos /> By 2016, an estimated 70,000 draft evaders had left Syria,<ref name=Khan>Khan, Adnan R. (4 April 2016). "Not Quite Tragic Enough". ''[[Maclean's]]'', pp.&nbsp;27–28. Retrieved 19 October 2018.</ref> and others remained undetected within its borders.<ref name=Bulos />

Observers have identified several motives among the Syrian draft evaders. One is fear of dying in that country's civil war.<ref name=Bulos /><ref name=Khan /> Others include obeying parental wishes and disgust with the government of [[Bashar al-Assad]].<ref name=Khan /> {{ill|Thomas Spijkerboer|qid=Q60690258}}, a professor of migration law at [[Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam|VU University Amsterdam]], has argued that Syrian draft evaders motivated by a refusal to participate in violations of international law should be given refugee status by other nations.<ref name=Khan />

In October 2018, the Syrian government announced an amnesty for draft evaders. However, an officer with Syria's "Reconciliation Ministry" told the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' that, while punishment would be canceled, military service would still be required. "Now the war is practically at its end, which means enlisting is no longer such a fearful situation", he said. "We expect we'll have very large numbers taking advantage of the amnesty".<ref name=Bulos />

===Tunisia===
Tunisia has had a draft since gaining its independence in 1956. Most males are required to submit documents to local officials at age 18 and to begin service two years later.<ref name=El-Shimy /> However, according to the Lebanon-based [[The Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center|Carnegie Middle East Center]], the Tunisian draft has long been poorly enforced and draft evasion has long been rampant.<ref name=El-Shimy>El-Shimy, Nasser (27 June 2018). "[http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/76654 Draft Dodging Nation]". ''Diwan'', online publication of the [[Carnegie Middle East Center]], Lebanon. Retrieved 13 November 2018.</ref>

In order to minimize draft evasion, Tunisia began allowing young men to substitute "civilian" service (such as working on rural development projects) or "national" service (such as working as civil servants) for military service.<ref name=El-Shimy /> But that has not helped: the defense minister reported that, in 2017, only 506 young men turned up out of an eligibility pool of more than 31,000.<ref name=El-Shimy />

===Ukraine===
{{See also|Mobilization in Ukraine|Ukrainian conscription crisis}}
In 2015, responding to perceived threats from pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military instituted a compulsory draft for males between 20 and 27 years of age. However, according to independent journalist Alec Luhn, writing in ''[[Foreign Policy]]'' magazine, a "huge number" of Ukrainians refused to serve. Luhn gives three reasons for this. One was fear of death. Another was that some young Ukrainians were opposed to war in general. A third was that some were unwilling to take up arms against those whom they perceived to be their countrymen.<ref name=Luhn>Luhn, Alec (18 February 2015).  "[https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/18/the-draft-dodgers-of-ukraine-russia-putin The Draft Dodgers of Ukraine]". ''[[Foreign Policy]]'', Web-based content. Retrieved 26 November 2017.</ref>

The Ukrainian military itself has stated that, during a partial call-up in 2014, over 85,000 men failed to report to their draft offices, and nearly 10,000 of those were eventually declared to be illegal draft evaders.<ref name=Luhn />

After the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], male Ukrainian nationals aged 18 to 60 were denied exit from Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |title=Desperate to avoid the draft |url=https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/desperate-to-avoid-the-draft |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] |date=4 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Thirty men have died trying to leave Ukraine to avoid fighting since war started |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/thirty-men-have-died-trying-leave-ukraine-avoid-fighting-since-war-started-2024-04-30/ |work=Reuters |date=30 April 2024}}</ref> Despite the ban on leaving Ukraine, an estimated 600,000–850,000 Ukrainian men fled to Europe after the Russian invasion.<ref>{{cite news |title='Blatantly illegal': Zelenskyy admin under fire for denying services to Ukrainian men abroad |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/blatantly-illegal-zelenskyy-government-under-fire-for-refusing-issue-consulate-services-ukrainian-men-abroad/ |work=Politico |date=25 April 2024}}</ref> The Polish government offered, and the Lithuanian government considered, the repatriation of Ukrainian men living in their countries to Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/25/poland-and-lithuania-pledge-to-help-kyiv-repatriate-ukrainians-subject-to-military-draft |title= Poland and Lithuania pledge to help Kyiv repatriate Ukrainians subject to military draft |author= Shaun Walker |work=The Guardian |date=26 April 2024}}</ref>

===United States===
The United States has [[Conscription in the United States|employed a draft]] several times, usually during war but also during the [[Cold War]]. Each time the draft has been met with at least some resistance.

In ''Sketches of America'' (1818) British author Henry Bradshaw Fearon, who visited the young United States on a fact-finding mission to inform Britons considering emigration, described the [[New York Guard]]—although he did not name it—as he found it in New York City in August 1817:

<blockquote>Every male inhabitant can be called out, from the age of 18 to 45, on actual military duty. During a state of peace, there are seven musters annually: the fine for non-attendance is, each time, five dollars. Commanding officers have discretionary power to receive substitutes. An instance of their easiness to be pleased was related to me by Mr. —, a tradesman of this city. He never attends the muster, but, to avoid the fine, sends some of his men, who answer to his name; the same man is not invariably his deputy on parade: in this, Mr. — suits his own convenience; sometimes the collecting clerk, sometimes one of the brewers, at others a drayman: and to finish this military pantomime, a firelock is often dispensed with, for the more convenient wartime weapon—a cudgel. Courts-martial have the power of mitigating the fine, on the assignment of a satisfactory cause of absence, and in cases of poverty. Upon legal exemptions I cannot convey certain information. During a period of three months in the late war, martial law existed, and no substitutes were received. Aliens were not called out.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fearon|first=Henry Bradshaw|title=Sketches of America: A Narrative of a Journey of Five Thousand Miles Through the Eastern and Western States of America|publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown|year=1818|location=London|pages=48–49}}</ref></blockquote>

====Civil War====
{{See also|Confederate Conscription Acts 1862–1864}}
[[File:Resistance to Confederate conscription.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Parody of Confederate troops forcing a pro-Union Southerner (left foreground) and other reluctant Southerners to comply with the Confederate draft, c. 1862.<ref>{{cite web |work=Prints & Photographs Online Catalog |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661642 |title=Southern 'Volunteers' |year=1862 |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref>]]

Both the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] (the North) and the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] (the South) instituted drafts during the [[American Civil War]] – and both drafts were often evaded.<ref name=Bell /> In the North, evaders were most numerous among poor Irish immigrants. In the South, evaders were most numerous in hill country and in certain other parts of Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia.<ref name=Bell />

Resistance to the draft was sometimes violent. In the North, nearly 100 draft enrollment officers were injured in attacks.<ref name=Bell /> [[New York City draft riots|Anti-draft riots in New York City in 1863]] lasted several days and resulted in up to 120 deaths and 2,000 injuries.<ref name=Bell />

According to historian David Williams, by 1864 the Southern draft had become virtually unenforceable.<ref>Williams, David (2008). ''Bitterly Divided: The South's Inner Civil War''. New York: The New Press, p.&nbsp;2. {{ISBN|978-1-59558-108-2}}.</ref> Some believe that draft evasion in the South, where manpower was scarcer than in the North, contributed to the Confederate defeat.<ref name=Bell />

====World War I====
The [[Selective Service Act of 1917]] was carefully drawn to remedy the defects in the Civil War system by allowing exemptions for dependency, essential occupations, and religious scruples and by prohibiting all forms of bounties, substitutions, or purchase of exemptions. In 1917 and 1918 some 24 million men were registered and nearly 3 million inducted into the military services, with little of the overt resistance that characterized the Civil War.<ref>Chambers, John Whiteclay II (1987). ''To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern America.'' New York: Free Press. {{ISBN|978-0-02-905820-6}}.</ref>

[[File:Eugene Debs portrait.jpeg|left|thumb|280x280px|[[Eugene V. Debs]] spoke out against the draft during World War I.<ref name=Virden />]]

In the United States during [[World War I]], the word "[[slacker]]" was commonly used to describe someone who was not participating in the war effort, especially someone who avoided military service, an equivalent of the later term "draft dodger." Attempts to track down such evaders were called "slacker raids."<ref>Author unspecified (10 September 1918). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1918/09/10/archives/take-slackers-into-army-many-at-camp-dix-welcome-induction-into.html Take Slackers Into Army; Many at Camp Dix Welcome Induction Into Military Service]". ''The New York Times'', p.&nbsp;6. Retrieved 17 January 2018.</ref><ref>Capozzola, Christopher (2008). ''Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.&nbsp;43–53. {{ISBN|978-0-19-533549-1}}.</ref> Under the [[Espionage Act of 1917]], activists including [[Eugene V. Debs]] and [[Emma Goldman]] were arrested for speaking out against the draft.<ref name=Virden>Virden, Jenel (2008). ''America and the Wars of the Twentieth Century''. [[Palgrave Macmillan]], p.&nbsp;35. {{ISBN|978-0-333-72661-7}}.</ref>

Despite such circumstances, draft evasion was substantial. According to one scholar, nearly 11 percent of the draft-eligible population refused to register, or to report for induction;<ref name=Keene>Keene, Jennifer D. (2006). ''World War I''. [[Greenwood Publishing Group]], p.&nbsp;37. {{ISBN|978-0-313-33181-7}}/</ref> according to another, 12 percent of draftees either failed to report to their training camps or deserted from them.<ref name=Wittmann /> A significant amount of draft evasion took place in the South, in part because many impoverished Southerners lacked documentation<ref name=Keene /> and in part because many Southerners recalled the "horrible carnage" of the Civil War.<ref>Ross, William G. (2017). ''World War I and the American Constitution''. [[Cambridge University Press]], p.&nbsp;28. {{ISBN|978-1-107-09464-2}}.</ref> In 2017, historian [[Michael Kazin]] concluded that a greater percentage of American men evaded the draft during World War I than during the Vietnam War.<ref>[[Michael Kazin|Kazin, Michael]] (2017). ''War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914–1918''. [[Simon & Schuster]], p.&nbsp;209. {{ISBN|978-1-4767-0590-3}}.</ref>

====World War II====
{{Main|Selective Training and Service Act of 1940}}

According to scholar Anna Wittmann, about 72,000 young Americans applied for [[conscientious objector]] (CO) status during [[World War II]], and many of their applications were rejected.<ref name=Anna>Wittmann (2016), cited above, p.&nbsp;116.</ref> Some COs chose to serve as noncombatants in the military, others chose jail, and a third group – taking a position in between – chose to enter a specially organized domestic [[Civilian Public Service]].<ref name=Anna /><ref>Frazer, Heather T.; O'Sullivan, John (1996). ''We Have Just Begun to Not Fight: An Oral History of Conscientious Objectors in the Civilian Public Service During World War II''.  New York: Twayne Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-8057-9134-1}}.</ref>

====Korean War====
The [[Korean War]], which lasted from 1950 to 1953, generated 80,000 cases of alleged draft evasion.<ref name=Anna />

====Vietnam War====
{{Main|Draft evasion in the Vietnam War}}
[[File:DraftcardRenJuan.jpg|thumb|upright|right|A [[Vietnam War]]-era draft card. Retention of the card was legally required.<ref>Rothenberg, Leslie S. (1968). ''The Draft and You: A Handbook on the Selective Service System''. New York: Anchor Books / Doubleday, p.&nbsp;221. No ISBN.</ref>]]
[[File:Draft card burning NYC 1967 Gary Rader Green Beret 100px.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Draft card burning in New York City, 1967]]
The [[Vietnam War]] (1955–1975) was controversial in the US<ref>[[David Maraniss|Maraniss, David]] (2003).  ''[[They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967]]''. New York: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-7432-6104-3}}/</ref> and was accompanied by a significant amount of draft evasion among young Americans, with many managing to remain in the U.S. by various means and some eventually leaving for Canada or elsewhere.

Significant draft avoidance was taking place even before the US became heavily involved in the Vietnam War. The large cohort of [[Baby boomers|Baby Boomers]] allowed for a steep increase in the number of exemptions and deferments, especially for college and graduate students.<ref name=Cortright /> According to [[Peace and conflict studies|peace studies]] scholar [[David Cortright]], ''more than half'' of the 27 million men eligible for the draft during the Vietnam War were deferred, exempted, or disqualified.<ref name=Cortright />

The number of draft resisters was also significant. According to Cortright, "Distinct from the millions who [avoided] the draft were the many thousands who resisted the conscription system and actively opposed the war".<ref>Cortright (2005), cited above, p. 164.</ref> The head of US President [[Richard Nixon]]'s task force on the [[Volunteer military|all-volunteer military]] reported in 1970 that the number of resisters was "expanding at an alarming rate" and that the government was "almost powerless to apprehend and prosecute them".<ref>Cortright (2005), cited above, p. 165 (quoting task force chair [[Martin Anderson (economist)|Martin Anderson]]).</ref> It is now known that, during the Vietnam era, approximately 570,000 young men were classified as draft offenders,<ref name=Cortright /> and approximately 210,000 were formally accused of draft violations;<ref name=Accused /><ref name=Cortright /> however, only 8,750 were convicted and only 3,250 were jailed.<ref name=Cortright /> Some draft eligible men publicly [[Draft-card burning|burned their draft cards]], but the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] brought charges against only 50, of whom 40 were convicted.<ref name=chance>Baskir and Strauss (1987), cited above.</ref>

As US troop strength in Vietnam increased, some young men sought to evade the draft by pro-actively enlisting in military forces that were unlikely to see combat in Vietnam. For example, conscription scholars Lawrence Baskir and William Strauss say that the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] may have served that purpose for some,<ref name=Coast>Baskir and Strauss, cited above, p.&nbsp;54.</ref> though they also point out that Coast Guardsmen had to maintain readiness for combat in Vietnam,<ref>Baskir and Strauss, cited above, p.&nbsp;14.</ref> and that some Coast Guardsmen eventually served and were killed there.<ref name=Coast /> Similarly, the Vietnam-era [[National Guard (United States)|National Guard]] was seen by some as an avenue for avoiding combat in Vietnam,<ref name=circumstance>Baskir and Strauss, cited above, p.&nbsp;51</ref> although that too was less than foolproof: about 15,000 National Guardsmen were sent to Vietnam before the war began winding down.<ref name=circumstance />

[[File:20111015 174748 phil-ochs (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|[[Phil Ochs]] (1940–1976) was one of several [[Counterculture|countercultural]] figures to encourage draft evasion.]]

Other young men sought to evade the draft by avoiding or resisting any military commitment. In this they were bolstered by certain [[Counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural]] figures. "[[Draft Dodger Rag]]", a 1965 song by [[Phil Ochs]], employed satire to provide a how-to list of available [[Selective Service System#Classifications|deferments]]: [[Splenic injury|ruptured spleen]], poor [[visual acuity|eyesight]], [[flat feet]], [[asthma]], and many more.<ref>Ochs, Phil (1965).  "[https://genius.com/Phil-ochs-draft-dodger-rag-lyrics Draft Dodger Rag]". Lyrics.  [[Genius (website)|Genius]] website. Retrieved 12 October 2018.</ref> Folksinger [[Arlo Guthrie]] lampooned the paradox of seeking a deferment by acting crazy in his song "[[Alice's Restaurant]]": "I said, 'I wanna kill! Kill! Eat dead burnt bodies!' and the Sergeant said, 'You're our boy'!"<ref>[[Arlo Guthrie|Guthrie, Arlo]] (1967). "[https://genius.com/Arlo-guthrie-alices-restaurant-massacree-lyrics Alice's Restaurant Massacre]". Lyrics. [[Genius (website)|Genius]] website.  Retrieved 17 January 2018.</ref> The book ''[[1001 Ways to Beat the Draft]]'' was co-authored by [[Tuli Kupferberg]], a member of the band [[The Fugs]]. It espoused such methods as arriving at the draft board in diapers.<ref name=Tuli>[[Tuli Kupferberg|Kupferberg, Tuli]]; Bashlow, Robert (1968). ''1001 Ways to Beat the Draft''. New York: Oliver Layton Press.  Originally New York: Grove Press, 1967. The book focuses on the United States in the 1960s. Neither edition has an ISBN.</ref> Another text pertinent to draft-age men was [[Jules Feiffer]]'s cartoon novella from the 1950s, ''Munro'', [[Munro (film)|later a short film]], in which a four-year-old boy is drafted by mistake.<ref>Feiffer, Jules (1989). ''The Collected Works, Volume II: Munro''.  Seattle: [[Fantagraphics Books]].  {{ISBN|978-1-56097-001-9}}.</ref>

Draft counseling groups were another source of support for potential draft evaders. Many such groups were active during the war. Some were connected to national groups, such as the [[American Friends Service Committee]] and [[Students for a Democratic Society]]; others were ad hoc campus or community groups.<ref name=Satin>[[Mark Satin|Satin, Mark]] (2017, orig. 1968). ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''.  Toronto: House of Anansi Press "A List" reprint ed., Chap. 24 (listing the names ad addresses of 100 U.S. anti-draft groups from 38 states as of January 1968). {{ISBN|978-1-4870-0289-3}}.</ref> Many specially trained individuals worked as counselors for such groups.<ref>Tatum, Arlo, ed. (October 1968, orig. 1952). ''Handbook for Conscientious Objectors''. Philadelphia: [[Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors]], 10th ed., p.&nbsp;6. Booklet of 100 pages, no ISBN.</ref>

[[File:David Harris at Presidio 1968.jpg|thumb|265x265px|[[David Harris (activist)|David Harris]] and "The Resistance" helped organize Stop the Draft Week in Oakland, California, October 1967.<ref>Gitlin (1993, orig. 1987), cited above, pp.&nbsp;247–252.</ref><ref name=Ashbolt />]]

Alongside the draft counseling groups, a substantial draft resistance movement emerged.<ref name=Michael>Foley (2003), cited above, Introduction and Chaps. 1–6.</ref>  Students for a Democratic Society sought to play a major role in it,<ref>[[Kirkpatrick Sale|Sale, Kirkpatrick]] (1973). ''SDS''. New York: Vintage Books / Random House, "Resistance 1965–1968" section, pp.&nbsp;311–316. {{ISBN|978-0-394-71965-8}}.</ref> as did the [[War Resisters League]],<ref name=Ashbolt /> the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]]'s "National Black Anti-War Anti-Draft Union"<ref>[[Clayborne Carson|Carson, Clayborne]] (1981). ''In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s''.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p.&nbsp;271. {{ISBN|978-0-674-44726-4}}.</ref> and other groups.<ref name=Ashbolt /> Many say that the draft resistance movement was spearheaded by an organization called The Resistance.<ref name=Michael /><ref name=Ferberlynd>[[Michael Ferber|Ferber, Michael]]; [[Staughton Lynd|Lynd, Staughton]] (1971). ''The Resistance''.  Boston: Beacon Press.  {{ISBN|978-0-8070-0542-2}}.</ref> It was founded by [[David Harris (protester)|David Harris]] and others in the San Francisco Bay Area in March 1967, and quickly spread nationally.<ref name=Ashbolt>Ashbolt, Anthony (2013).  ''A Cultural History of the Radical Sixties in the San Francisco Bay Area''. New York: Routledge, pp. 127–128. {{ISBN|978-1-84893-232-6}}.</ref> The insignia of the organization was the Greek letter [[omega]], Ω, the symbol for ohms—the unit of [[Electrical resistance and conductance|electrical resistance]]. Members of The Resistance publicly burned their draft cards or refused to register for the draft. Other members deposited their cards into boxes on selected dates and then mailed them to the government. They were then drafted, refused to be inducted, and fought their cases in the federal courts. These draft resisters hoped that their public civil disobedience would help to bring the war and the draft to an end. Many young men went to federal prison as part of this movement.<ref name=Michael /><ref name=Ferberlynd /> According to Cortright, the draft resistance movement was the leading edge of the [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-war movement]] in 1967 and 1968.<ref name=Cortright />

After the war, some of the draft evaders who stayed in the U.S. wrote memoirs. These included [[David Harris (protester)|David Harris]]'s ''[[Dreams Die Hard]]'' (1982),<ref name=Klein>[[Joe Klein|Klein, Joe]] (13 June 1982). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/13/books/a-protege-s-story.html  A Protégé's Story]". ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]'', p.&nbsp;3. Retrieved 2 February 2018.</ref> David Miller's ''I Didn't Know God Made Honky Tonk Communists'' (2001),<ref name=Friedman>Friedman, Sari (1 February 2002).  "[http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2002-02-01/article/9905?headline=Stranger-than-fiction--Sari-Friedman  Stranger than Fiction]". ''[[Berkeley Daily Planet]]'', p.&nbsp;1.  Retrieved 2 February 2018.</ref> Jerry Elmer's ''Felon for Peace'' (2005),<ref name=Kehler>[[Randy Kehler|Kehler, Randy]] (September 2005). "Felon for Peace: The Memoir of a Vietnam-Era Draft Resister". ''Fellowship'', vol. 71, no. 9–10, p.&nbsp;27. A publication of the [[Fellowship of Reconciliation (United States)|Fellowship of Reconciliation]].</ref> and Bruce Dancis's ''Resister'' (2014).<ref name=Joseph>Joseph, Paul (April 2015). "Resister: A Story of Peace and Prison During the Vietnam War". ''[[Peace & Change]]'', vol. 40, issue no. 2, pp.&nbsp;272–276. A joint publication of the [[Peace History Society]] and the [[Peace and Justice Studies Association]].</ref><ref name=Polner>Polner, Murray (18 May 2014). "[http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/155688 Review of Bruce Dancis's 'Resister']". [[History News Network]], an electronic platform at [[George Washington University]].  Retrieved 2 February 2018.</ref> Harris was an anti-draft organizer who went to jail for his beliefs (and was briefly married to folk singer [[Joan Baez]]),<ref name=Klein /> Miller was the first Vietnam War refuser to publicly burn his draft card (and later became partner to spiritual teacher [[Starhawk]]),<ref name=Friedman /> Elmer refused to register for the draft and destroyed draft board files in several locations,<ref name=Kehler /> and Dancis led the largest chapter of [[Students for a Democratic Society]] (the one at [[Cornell University]]) before being jailed for publicly shredding his draft card and returning it to his draft board.<ref name=Polner /> Harris in particular expresses serious second thoughts about aspects of the movement he was part of.<ref name=Klein />

Canadian historian Jessica Squires emphasizes that the number of U.S. draft evaders coming to Canada was "only a fraction" of those who resisted the Vietnam War.<ref>Squires, Jessica (2013). ''Building Sanctuary: The Movement to Support Vietnam War Resisters in Canada, 1965–73''. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, p.&nbsp;174. {{ISBN|978-0-7748-2524-5}}.</ref> According to a 1978 book by former members of President [[Gerald Ford]]'s Clemency Board, 210,000 Americans were accused of draft offenses and 30,000 left the country.<ref name=Accused>Baskir and Strauss (1978), cited above, p.&nbsp;169.</ref> More recently, Cortright estimated that 60,000 to 100,000 left the US, mainly for Canada or Sweden.<ref name=Cortright>Cortright, David (2008). ''Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp.&nbsp;164–165. {{ISBN|978-0-521-67000-5}}.</ref> Others scattered elsewhere; for example, historian [[Frank Kusch]] mentions Mexico,<ref>Kusch (2001), cited above, p.&nbsp;26.</ref> scholar Anna Wittmann mentions Britain,<ref name=Wittmann /> and journalist [[Jan Wong]] describes one draft evader who sympathized with [[Mao Zedong]]'s China and found refuge there.<ref>Wong, Jan (1997). ''Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now''.  New York: Anchor Books, pp.&nbsp;154–155. {{ISBN|978-0-385-48232-5}}.</ref> Draft evader Ken Kiask spent eight years traveling continuously across the [[Global North and Global South|Global South]] before returning to the US<ref>Kiask, Ken (2015). ''Draft-Dodging Odyssey''. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace / Amazon. {{ISBN|978-1-5087-5169-4}}.</ref>

[[File:Draft dodgers being counseled 1967.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|[[Mark Satin]] (left), director of the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme,<ref>[[John Fisher Burns|Burns, John]] (11 October 1967). "Deaf to the Draft". ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto), pp.&nbsp;1, 2.</ref> counseling American draft evaders, 1967]]
[[File:Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Tattered copy of the ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'' (1968)<ref name=Stewart>Stewart, Luke (December 2018).  "[https://www.academia.edu/37718241/Review_Essay_Mark_Satin_ed._Manual_for_Draft-Age_Immigrants_to_Canada_Toronto_House_of_Anansi_2018_1968_%C3%89tudes_canadiennes_Canadian_Studies_N_85_December_2018_219-223  Review Essay: Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada]". ''Études canadiennes / Canadian Studies'', issue no. 85, pp. 219–223. Published in French and English by Association Française d'Études Canadiennes, [[Institut des Amériques]], France. Retrieved 23 May 2019.</ref> atop Anti-Draft Programme stationery]]

The number of Vietnam-era draft evaders leaving for Canada is hotly contested; an entire book, by scholar Joseph Jones, has been written on that subject.<ref>Jones, Joseph (2005). ''Contending Statistics: The Numbers for U.S. War Resisters in Canada''. Morrisville, NC: [[Lulu (company)|Lulu Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-9737641-0-9}}.</ref> In 2017, [[University of Toronto]] professor [[Robert McGill (writer)|Robert McGill]] cited estimates by four scholars, including Jones, ranging from a floor of 30,000 to a ceiling of 100,000, depending in part on who is being counted as a draft evader.<ref>[[Robert McGill (writer)|McGill, Robert]] (2017). ''War Is Here: The Vietnam War and Canadian Literature''. Kingston, Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press, p.&nbsp;272 n.12 (citing scholars John Hagan, David D. Harvey, Joseph Jones, and David S. Surrey). {{ISBN|978-0-7735-5159-6}}.</ref>

Though the presence of U.S. draft evaders and deserters in Canada was initially controversial, the Canadian government eventually chose to welcome them.<ref>Knowles, Valerie (2016). ''Strangers at Our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540–2015''. Toronto: [[Dundurn Press]], 4th ed., p.&nbsp;214 ("Draft-Age Americans in Canada" section). {{ISBN|978-1-4597-3285-8}}.</ref> Draft evasion was not a criminal offense under Canadian law.<ref>Kasinsky, Renée G. (1976). ''Refugees from Militarism: Draft-Age Americans in Canada''. New Brunswick, NJ: [[Transaction Publishers|Transaction Books]], p.&nbsp;61. {{ISBN|978-0-87855-113-2}}.</ref> The issue of deserters was more complex. [[Desertion]] from the US military was not on the list of crimes for which a person could be extradited under the extradition treaty between Canada and the US;<ref>Satin (2017, orig. 1968), cited above, pp.&nbsp;120–122.</ref> however, desertion was a crime in Canada, and the Canadian military strongly opposed condoning it. In the end, the Canadian government maintained the right to prosecute these deserters, but in practice left them alone and instructed border guards not to ask questions relating to the issue.<ref name="cool">Keung, Nicholas (20 August 2010).  "[https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/850824--daring-to-object-iraq-war-resisters-though-often-veterans-themselves-have-been-met-with-a-cool-reception-much-different-from-the-draft-dodgers-of-the-1960s Iraq War Resisters Meet Cool Reception in Canada]." ''Toronto Star.'' Retrieved 14 August 2012.</ref>

In Canada, many American Vietnam War evaders received pre-emigration counseling and post-emigration assistance from locally based groups.<ref>Clausen, Oliver (21 May 1967). "Boys Without a Country". ''The New York Times Magazine'', pp.&nbsp;25 and 94–105.</ref> Typically these consisted of American emigrants and Canadian supporters. The largest were the Montreal Council to Aid War Resisters, the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme, and the Vancouver Committee to Aid American War Objectors.<ref>Williams (1971), cited above, pp.&nbsp;56–62.</ref> Journalists often noted their effectiveness.<ref>Magazine or newspaper articles that touched on the effectiveness of one or more of Canada's draft counseling groups include:
* Cowan, Edward (11 February 1968). "Expatriate Draft Evaders Prepare Manual on How to Immigrate to Canada".  ''[[The New York Times]]'', p.&nbsp;7.
* Dunford, Gary (3 February 1968). "Toronto's Anti-Draft Office Jammed". ''[[Toronto Star]]'', p.&nbsp;25.
* Johnson, Olive Skene (August 1967). "Draft-Age Dilemma". ''[[McCall's]]'', pp.&nbsp;34, 150.
* Rosenthal, Harry F. (2 June 1968). "Canada Increasingly Draft Dodgers' Haven". ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', p.&nbsp;H9.
* [[Jan Schreiber|Schreiber, Jan]] (January 1968). "Canada's Haven for Draft Dodgers". ''[[The Progressive]]'', pp.&nbsp;34–36.
* [[Dan Wakefield|Wakefield, Dan]] (March 1968). "Supernation at Peace and War". ''[[The Atlantic]]'', pp.&nbsp;42–45.</ref> The ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'', published jointly by the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme and the [[House of Anansi Press]], sold nearly 100,000 copies,<ref>Adams, James (20 October 2007). "'The Big Guys Keep Being Surprised by Us.'" ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto), p.&nbsp;R6 (statting that "close to 100,000" had been sold).</ref><ref name=Roy>[[Roy MacSkimming|MacSkimming, Roy]] (26 August 2017). "[https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/review-mark-satins-manual-for-draft-age-immigrants-to-canada-is-just-as-timely-as-ever/article36087618  Review: Mark Satin's Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada Is Just as Timely as Ever]". ''The Globe and Mail'', p.&nbsp;R12 (stating that 65,000 had been sold by Canadian publishers and another 30,000 had been reproduced in whole or in part by U.S. anti-war entities). Online text dated 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2017.</ref> and one sociologist found that the ''Manual'' had been read by over 55% of his [[Sample (statistics)|data sample]] of US Vietnam War emigrants either before or after they arrived in Canada.<ref>Hagan, John (2001). ''Northern Passage: American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada.'' Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, pp.&nbsp;77–78.  {{ISBN|978-0-674-00471-9}}.</ref> In addition to the counseling groups (and at least formally separate from them) was a Toronto-based political organization, the Union of American Exiles, better known as "Amex."<ref>Hagan (2001), pp. 80–81.</ref><ref>Williams (1971), pp.&nbsp;79–83.</ref> It sought to speak for American draft evaders and deserters in Canada. For example, it lobbied and campaigned for universal, unconditional amnesty, and hosted an international conference in 1974 opposing anything short of that.<ref>Hagan (2001), pp.&nbsp;81 and 161–62.</ref>

Those who went abroad faced imprisonment or forced military service if they returned home. In September 1974, President Gerald Ford offered an amnesty program for draft dodgers that required them to work in alternative service occupations for periods of six to 24 months.<ref>Author unspecified (14 September 1974).  "[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/14/archives/flexible-amnesty-plan-is-reported-set-by-ford.html  Flexible Amnesty Plan Is Reported Set by Ford]". ''[[The New York Times]]'', p.&nbsp;9.  Retrieved 28 July 2018.</ref> In 1977, one day after his inauguration, President [[Jimmy Carter]] fulfilled a campaign promise by offering pardons to anyone who had evaded the draft and requested one. It antagonized critics on both sides, with the right complaining that those pardoned paid no penalty and the left complaining that requesting a pardon required the admission of a crime.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schulzinger|first= Robert D. |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dq4QiUWHrOIC&pg=PT38 |title=A Time for Peace: The Legacy of the Vietnam War|location= New York|publisher= Oxford University Press |access-date= July 30, 2011 |isbn=978-0-19-507190-0}}</ref>

[[File:Jim Green (cropped).jpg|thumb|266x266px|Vancouver city councillor [[Jim Green (Canadian politician)|Jim Green]] was one of several draft evaders who became prominent in Canada.]]
[[File:Hendricks-leboeuf2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Gay rights advocate [[Michael Hendricks and René Leboeuf|Michael Hendricks]] (right) is another draft evader who affected Canadian life.]]

It remains a matter of debate whether emigration to Canada and elsewhere during the Vietnam War was an effective, or even a genuine, war resistance strategy. Scholar Michael Foley argues that it was not only relatively ineffective, but that it served to siphon off disaffected young Americans from the larger struggle.<ref name=Foley /> Activists [[Rennie Davis]] and [[Tom Hayden]] reportedly held similar views.<ref>Kasinsky (1976), cited above, p. 98.</ref> By contrast, authors John Hagan and Roger N. Williams recognize the American emigrants as "war resisters" in the subtitles of their books about the emigrants,<ref>Williams (1971), cited above.</ref><ref>Hagan (2001), cited above.</ref> and ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'' author [[Mark Satin]] contended that public awareness of tens of thousands of young Americans leaving for Canada would<ref>Kasinsky (1976), p.&nbsp;104.</ref><ref>Satin, Mark (2017). "Afterword: Bringing Draft Dodgers to Canada in the 1960s". In Satin, Mark (2017, orig. 1968). ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''.  House of Anansi Press, "A List" reprint ed, p.&nbsp;129. {{ISBN|978-1-4870-0289-3}}.</ref> – and eventually did<ref>Satin (2017), p.&nbsp;135.</ref><ref>Satin, Mark (14 June 2017).  "[https://houseofanansi.com/blogs/anansi/godfrey-and-me-a-guest-post-by-mark-satin-1  Godfrey and Me]".  [[House of Anansi Press]] website.  Retrieved 4 April 2019.</ref> – help end the war.

Some draft evaders returned to the U.S. from Canada after the 1977 pardon, but according to sociologist John Hagan, about half of them stayed on.<ref>Hagan, John (2001), pp.&nbsp;3 and 241–42.</ref> This young and mostly educated population expanded Canada's arts and academic scenes, and helped push Canadian politics further to the left, though some Canadians, including some principled nationalists, found their presence or impact troubling.<ref>These points have been made in a series of academic journal articles by Canadian social historian David Churchill:
* Churchill, David S. (2004). "[http://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/viewFile/4372/3570 An Ambiguous Welcome: Vietnam Draft Resistance, the Canadian State, and Cold War Containment]". ''Histoire Sociale&nbsp;/ Social History'', vol.&nbsp;37, no.&nbsp;73, pp. 1–26.
* Churchill, David S. (Fall 2010). "[https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/uhr/2010-v39-n1-uhr3960/045106ar.pdf  American Expatriates and the Building of Alternative Social Space in Toronto, 1965–1977]". ''Urban History Review'', vol. XXXVIX, no. 1, pp. 31–44.
* Churchill, David S. (June 2012). "Draft Resistance, Lefr Nationalism, and the Politics of Anti-Imperialism". ''[[Canadian Historical Review]]'', vol. 93, no. 2, pp.&nbsp;227–260.</ref> American draft evaders who left for Canada and became prominent there include author [[William Gibson]], politician [[Jim Green (Canadian politician)|Jim Green]], gay rights advocate [[Michael Hendricks and René Leboeuf|Michael Hendricks]], attorney [[Jeffry House]], author [[Keith Maillard]], playwright [[John Murrell (playwright)|John Murrell]], television personality [[Eric Nagler]], film critic [[Jay Scott]], and musician [[Jesse Winchester]]. Other draft evaders from the Vietnam era remain in Sweden and elsewhere.<ref>Baskir and Strauss (1978), p.&nbsp;201.</ref><ref>Hagan (2001), cited above, p.&nbsp;186 (quoting Baskir and Strauss).</ref>

Two academic literary critics have written at length about autobiographical novels by draft evaders who went to Canada – Rachel Adams in the ''[[Yale Journal of Criticism]]''<ref name=Rachel>Adams, Rachel (Fall 2005).  "[http://www.racheladams.net/articles/GoingtoCanada.pdf 'Going to Canada': The Politics and Poetics of Northern Exodus]". ''Yale Journal of Criticism'', vol. 18, no. 2, pp.&nbsp;417–425 ("The Things They Wrote" section). Reproduced at the [[Project MUSE]] database.  Retrieved 24 November 2017.</ref> and [[Robert McGill (writer)|Robert McGill]] in a book from [[McGill-Queen's University Press]].<ref name=Robert>McGill (2017), cited above, pp.&nbsp;172–181 ("The Alternative America in Draft-Dodger Novels" sub-chapter).</ref> Both critics discuss Morton Redner's ''Getting Out'' (1971) and [[Mark Satin]]'s ''Confessions of a Young Exile'' (1976), and Adams also discusses Allen Morgan's ''Dropping Out in 3/4 Time'' (1972) and Daniel Peters's ''Border Crossing'' (1978). All these books portray their protagonists' views, motives, activities, and relationships in detail.<ref name=Rachel /><ref name=Robert /> Adams says they contain some surprises:

<blockquote>It is to be expected that the draft dodgers denounce the state as an oppressive bureaucracy, using the vernacular of the time to rail against "the machine" and "the system." What is more surprising is their general resistance to mass movements, a sentiment that contradicts the association of the draft dodger with sixties protest found in more recent work by [Scott] Turow or [Mordecai] Richler. In contrast to stereotypes, the draft dodger in these narratives is neither an unthinking follower of movement ideology nor a radical who attempts to convert others to his cause. ... [Another surprise is that the dodgers] have little interest in romantic love. Their libidinal hyperactivity accords with [Herbert] Marcuse's belief in the liberatory power of eros. They are far less worried about whether particular relationships will survive the flight to Canada than about the gratification of their immediate sexual urges.<ref>Adams (Fall 2005), p.&nbsp;419.</ref></blockquote>

Later memoirs by Vietnam-era draft evaders who went to Canada include Donald Simons's ''I Refuse'' (1992),<ref>Beelaert, Amy M. (November 1993). "Voices of Our Times: I Refuse: Memories of a Vietnam War Objector".  ''[[English Journal|The English Journal]]'', vol. 82, no. 7, p.&nbsp;84.</ref><ref>Peters, Pamela J. (April 1992). "I Refuse: Memories of a Vietnam War Objector", ''[[Library Journal]]'', vol. 117, no. 6, p.&nbsp;129.</ref> [[George Fetherling]]'s ''Travels by Night'' (1994),<ref>[[David Macfarlane|Macfarlane, David]] (30 April 1994). "Fetherling's Talents Take Wing". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', p.&nbsp;C20.</ref><ref>Ware, Randall (1 May 1994). "A Grey Memoir of a Colorful Time". ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', p.&nbsp;B3.</ref> and [[Mark Frutkin]]'s ''Erratic North'' (2008).<ref>Coates, Donna (Winter 2009). "Artful Dodgers". ''[[Canadian Literature (journal)|Canadian Literature]]'', issue no. 203, p.&nbsp;147. A publication of the [[University of British Columbia]].</ref><ref>[[Wayne Grady (author)|Grady, Wayne]] (8 October 2008). "An Artful Dodger".  ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', p.&nbsp;D4.</ref>

=====Prominent people arguably manipulating the system=====
For decades after the Vietnam War ended, prominent Americans were being accused of having manipulated the draft system to their advantage.

According to a column by [[E. J. Dionne]] in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', by 2006 politicians whom opponents had accused of improperly avoiding the draft included [[George W. Bush military service controversy|George W. Bush]], [[Dick Cheney#Early life and education|Dick Cheney]], and [[Bill Clinton#College and law school years|Bill Clinton]].<ref>[[E. J. Dionne|Dionne, E.J.]] (17 January 2006)."[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011600913.html Murtha and the Mudslingers]". ''The Washington Post'', p.&nbsp;A17. Retrieved 14 August 2012.</ref>

[[File:Ted Nugent at the Redneck Country Club, July 6, 2017 MG 9741 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Ted Nugent]] reportedly took extreme measures to avoid the draft.<ref name=Sirius />]]

In a 1970s ''[[High Times]]'' article, American singer-songwriter [[Ted Nugent]] stated that he took [[Methamphetamine|crystal meth]], and urinated and defecated in his pants before his physical, in order to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.<ref name=Sirius>[[R. U. Sirius|Sirius, R.U.]] (2009). ''Everybody Must Get Stoned: Rock Stars on Drugs''. [[Kensington Books|Kensington Publishing Corp.]], pp.&nbsp;47–48.  {{ISBN|978-0-8065-3073-4}}.</ref> In a 1990 interview with a large Detroit newspaper, Nugent made similar statements.<ref>Noriyuki, Duane (15 July 1990). "Ted Nugent Grows Up?". ''[[Detroit Free Press]]'', magazine section, pp.&nbsp;6, 10."[https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2014/03/26/the-worst-ted-nugent-interview-of-all-time/198607  The Worst Ted Nugent Interview of All Time]".  [[Media Matters for America]], online article (see under the sub-head "Nugent Says He Soiled Himself To Avoid Vietnam Among Other Bizarre Anecdotes"). Retrieved 27 July 2018.</ref>

Actor and comedian [[Chevy Chase]] also misled his draft board. In 1989, approximately two decades after the fact, Chase revealed on a television talk show that he avoided the Vietnam War by making several false claims to his draft board, including that he harbored homosexual tendencies. He added he was "not very proud" of having done that.<ref>O'Connor, John J. (11 January 1989). "[https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/11/arts/review-television-late-night-chitchat-additions-pat-sajak-and-arsenio-hall.html  Review / Television; Late-Night Chitchat Additions: Pat Sajak and Arsenio Hall]". ''The New York Times'', p.&nbsp;C-17. Retrieved 1 November 2019.</ref> Several politically charged books subsequently discussed Chase's behavior.<ref>Kusch (2001), cited above, p.&nbsp;71.</ref><ref>Gottlieb, Sherry Gershon (1991). ''Hell No, We Won't Go: Resisting the Draft During the Vietnam War''.  New York: Viking Press, p.&nbsp;96. {{ISBN|978-0-670-83935-3}}.</ref>

Radio talk show host [[Rush Limbaugh]] {{clarify span|reason=Did he, or didn't he? See MOS:ALLEGED. |reportedly|date=July 2020}} avoided the Vietnam draft because of anal [[cyst]]s. In a 2011 book critical of Limbaugh, journalist John K. Wilson accused Limbaugh making "hyperbolic attacks on foreign policy".<ref>Wilson, John K. (2011). ''The Most Dangerous Man in America: Rush Limbaugh's Assault on Reason''. New York: St. Martin's Press, p.&nbsp;80 ("Limbaugh at War" section). {{ISBN|978-0-312-61214-6}}.</ref>

Former Republican presidential nominee [[Mitt Romney]]'s deferment has been questioned. {{clarify span|reason=Have we changed gears here, or is this still about Romney? The interpolated ' – Romney's church – ' here is highly suspect. |During the Vietnam War, [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) – Romney's church – became embroiled in controversy for deferring large numbers of its young members."|date=July 2020}}<ref>[[Michael Kranish|Kranish, Michael]]; Hellman, Scott (2012). ''The Real Romney''. New York: HarperCollins, pp.&nbsp;61–62. {{ISBN|978-0-06-212327-5}}.</ref> The LDS Church eventually agreed to cap the number of missionary deferments it sought for members in any one region.<ref name=Kranish>[[Michael Kranish|Kranish, Michael]] (24 June 2007).  "[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/articles/part1_side_2  Mormon Church Obtained Vietnam Draft Deferrals for Romney, Other Missionaries]". ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', web exclusive, now at [[Boston.com]] regional website. Retrieved 17 January 2018.</ref> After Romney dropped out of Stanford University and was about to lose his student deferment, he decided to become a missionary; and the LDS Church in his home state of Michigan chose to give him one of that state's missionary deferments.<ref name=Conason /> In a ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]'' article from 2007, journalist [[Joe Conason]] noted that Romney's father had been governor of Michigan at the time.<ref name=Conason>[[Joe Conason|Conason, Joe]] (20 July 2007).  "[https://www.salon.com/2007/07/20/rudy_and_romney  Rudy and Romney: Artful Dodgers]". [[Salon (website)|Salon]] online magazine. Retrieved 17 January 2018.</ref>

Attention has also been paid to independent Senator [[Bernie Sanders]]'s failure to serve. In an article in ''[[The Atlantic]]'', it was reported that, after graduating from the University of Chicago in 1964, and moving back to New York City, the future candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination applied for [[conscientious objector]] status – even though as Sanders acknowledged to the reporter, he was not religious.<ref name=Banks>[[Russell Banks|Banks, Russell]] (5 October 2015).  "[https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/bernie-sanders-mayor/407413 Bernie Sanders, the Socialist Mayor]". ''[[The Atlantic]]'', online; third section, 10th paragraph. Retrieved 27 July 2018.</ref> (Sanders was opposed to the Vietnam War.<ref>Banks (5 October 2015), cited above, third section, 9th paragraph. Retrieved 27 July 2018.</ref> At the time, however, CO status was granted entirely on the basis of religious opposition to all war.<ref name=Banks />) Sanders's CO status was denied. Nevertheless, a "lengthy series of hearings, an FBI investigation and numerous postponements and delays" took him to age 26 at which point he was no longer eligible for the draft.<ref name=Banks /> In a 2015 book critical of Sanders, journalist Harry Jaffe revisited that portion of the ''Atlantic'' article, emphasizing that by the time Sanders's "numerous hearings" had run their course he was "too old to be drafted".<ref>Jaffe, Harry (2015).  ''Why Bernie Sanders Matters''. Regan Arts / [[Phaidon Press]], p.&nbsp;54. This book was published in December 2015, two months before the [[Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2016]]. {{ISBN|978-1-68245-017-8}}.</ref>

U.S. president [[Donald Trump]] graduated from college in the spring of 1968, and became eligible for military service. Trump however, due to a personal friend of his father's, a medical doctor, was granted a diagnosis of [[Exostosis|bone spurs]] in his heels. The diagnosis allowed Trump to receive a medical deferment.<ref name=eder2>Eder, Steve; Philipps, Dave (1 August 2016). "[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/politics/donald-trump-draft-record.html?mcubz=3 Donald Trump's Draft Deferments: Four for College, One for Bad Feet]". ''The New York Times'', p.&nbsp;A1. Print edition has a different date and headline. Retrieved 17 January 2018.</ref>

=====Pardons=====
In 1977, President [[Jimmy Carter]] issued a pardon giving unconditional amnesty to Vietnam war draft resisters.<ref name=Draft>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/01/22/archives/texts-of-documents-on-the-pardon.html |title=Texts of Documents on the Pardon |date=January 22, 1977 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 17, 2018}}</ref>

==Larger issues==
{{Quote box|width=25em|align=right|quote="[T]he aggregation of thousands upon thousands of ... 'petty' acts of resistance [can] have dramatic economic and political effects. ... Poaching and squatting on a large scale can restructure the control of property. Peasant tax evasion on a large scale has brought about crises of appropriation that threaten the state. Massive desertion by serf or peasant conscripts has helped bring down more than one ancient regime. Under the appropriate conditions, the accumulation of petty acts can, rather like snowflakes on a steep mountainside, set off an avalanche".|source=— Political scientist [[James C. Scott]], 1990.<ref name=Scott />}}

The phenomenon of draft evasion has raised several major issues among scholars and others.

===Effectiveness===
One issue is the effectiveness of the various kinds of draft evasion practices with regard to ending a military draft or stopping a war. Historian Michael S. Foley sees many draft evasion practices as merely personally beneficial.<ref name=Foley /> In his view, only public anti-draft activity, consciously and collectively engaged in, is relevant to stopping a draft or a war.<ref name=Foley /> By contrast, sociologist [[Todd Gitlin]] is more generous in his assessment of the effectiveness of the entire gamut of draft evasion practices.<ref name=Gitlin /> Political scientist [[James C. Scott]], although speaking more theoretically, makes a similar point, arguing that the accumulation of thousands upon thousands of "petty" and obscure acts of private resistance can trigger political change.<ref name=Scott>Scott, James C. (1990). ''Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p.&nbsp;192. {{ISBN|978-0-300-05669-3}}.</ref>

===Social class===
[[File:James-Fallows-(edit).jpg|thumb|235x235px|Harvard graduate [[James Fallows]] wrote about the shame he felt as a draft evader.]]
Another issue is how best to understand young people's responses to a military call-up. According to historian Charles DeBenedetti, some Vietnam War opponents chose to evaluate people's responses to the war largely in terms of their willingness to take personal responsibility to resist evil, a standard prompted by the [[Nuremberg principles|Nuremberg doctrine]].<ref>DeBenedetti, Charles (1990). ''An American Ordeal: The Antiwar Movement of the Vietnam Era''. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, pp.&nbsp;127–128. {{ISBN|978-0-8156-0245-3}}.</ref> The ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'' urged its readers to make their draft decision with Nuremberg in mind.<ref>Satin (2117, orig. 1968), cited above, p.&nbsp;7.</ref> By contrast, prominent journalist [[James Fallows]] is convinced that [[social class]] (rather than conscience or political conviction) was the dominant factor in determining who would fight in the war and who would evade their obligation to do so.<ref name=Fallows /> Fallows writes of the shame he felt – and continued to feel – after he realized that his successful attempt at draft evasion (he brought his body weight below the minimum, and lied about his mental health), an attempt he prepared for with the help of sophisticated draft counselors and classmates at Harvard, meant that working-class kids from Boston would be going to Vietnam in his stead.<ref name=Fallows /> He referred to this outcome as a matter of [[class discrimination]] and passionately argued against it.<ref>Fallows (1977), cited above, pp.&nbsp;162, 164, 166.</ref> Fallows indicated that he might have felt differently about his behavior had he chosen public draft resistance, jail, or exile.<ref>Fallows (1977), cited above, pp.&nbsp;159, 162.</ref>

Historian [[Stanley Karnow]] has noted that, during the Vietnam War, student deferments themselves helped preserve class privilege: "[President Lyndon] Johnson generously deferred U.S. college students from the draft to avoid alienating the American middle class".<ref name=Karnow>[[Stanley Karnow|Karnow, Stanley]] (1997, orig. 1983). ''Vietnam: A History''. New York: Penguin Books, 2nd ed., p.&nbsp;358. {{ISBN|978-0-14-026547-7}}.</ref>

===Democracy===
Historian [[Howard Zinn]] and political activist [[Tom Hayden]] saw at least some kinds of draft evasion as a positive expression of democracy.<ref>[[Howard Zinn|Zinn, Howard]] (2005, orig. 1980). ''A People's History of the United States''. New York: Harper Perennial "classics" ed., pp.&nbsp;485–486, 605. {{ISBN|978-0-06-083865-2}}.</ref><ref>[[James Miller (academic)|Miller, James]] (1994, orig. 1987). ''Democracy Is in the Streets: From Port Huron to the Siege of Chicago''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, p.&nbsp;261 (on Hayden).  {{ISBN|978-0-674-19725-1}}.</ref> By contrast, historian and classical studies scholar Mathew R. Christ says that, in ancient democratic Athens, where draft evasion was ongoing,<ref name=Christ /> many of the popular tragic playwrights were deeply concerned about the corrosive effects of draft evasion on democracy and community.<ref name=Matthew>Christ (2006), cited above, pp.&nbsp;65–87 ("Conscription and Draft Evasion through a Tragic Lens" section).</ref> According to Christ, while many of these playwrights were sensitive to the moral dilemmas of war and the imperfections of Athenian democracy,<ref name=Matthew /> most touted "the ethical imperative that a man should support his friends and community. In serving the community, the individual does ... what is right and honorable".<ref>Christ (2006), cited above, p.&nbsp;86.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Australian Freedom League]] – opposed conscription in Australia during World War I
* [[Canada and the Vietnam War]] – includes discussion of U.S. draft evaders
* [[Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors]] – provided information and counseling to U.S. war resisters and draft evaders from 1948 to 2011
* [[Conscription and sexism]]
* [[Desertion]] – discusses military desertion generally and in several individual nations
* [[End Conscription Campaign]] – opposed conscription of white South Africans in [[Apartheid]]-era South Africa
* [[No-Conscription Fellowship]] – opposed [[Recruitment to the British Army during World War I|British conscription during World War I]]
* [[No Conscription League]] – co-founded by [[Emma Goldman]] in response to the U.S. draft during World War I
* [[Pardon]] – legal relief sometimes offered to draft evaders
* [[Peace churches]] – A number of Christian denominations historically and presently opposed to war and the draft
* [[Refusal to serve in the IDF|Refusal to serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)]] - Overview of resistance by Israelis to participate in mandatory military service for the IDF
* [[War resister]] – discusses variety of types of war refusers, including draft refusers

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="nb"}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Bernstein, Iver. ''The New York City Draft Riots: Their Significance for American Society and Politics in the Age of the Civil War''. Lincoln, NE: Bison Books / University of Nebraska Press. 2010.
* Colhoun, Jack. "[http://www.vcn.bc.ca/~jjones/amexhistory.html  War Resisters in Exile: The Memoirs of Amex-Canada]". ''Amex-Canada'' magazine, vol. 6, no. 2 (issue no. 47), pp.&nbsp;11–78. Account of the political organization created by U.S. draft evaders in Canada.  Reproduced at [[Vancouver Community Network]] website.  Retrieved 29 November 2017. Article originally November–December 1977.
* Conway, Daniel. ''Masculinisation, Militarisation, and the End Conscription Campaign: War Resistance in Apartheid South Africa''.  Manchester, England: Manchester University Press. 2012.
* Foley, Michael S. ''Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance during the Vietnam War''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2003.
* Gottlieb, Sherry Gershon. ''Hell No, We Won't Go: Resisting the Draft During the Vietnam War''. New York: Viking Press. 1991.
* Hagan, John. ''Northern Passage: American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada''. Boston: Harvard University Press. 2001.
* Kasinsky, Renee. ''Refugees from Militarism: Draft-Age Americans in Canada''. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. 1976.
* Kohn, Stephen M. ''Jailed for Peace: The History of American Draft Law Violators, 1658–1985''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1987.
*Peterson, Carl L. ''Avoidance and Evasion of Military Service: An American History 1626-1973''. San Francisco: International Scholars Publications. 1998.
* Satin, Mark. ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, "A List" reprint edition. New introduction by Canadian historian [[James Laxer]], new afterword by Satin ("Bringing Draft Dodgers to Canada in the 1960s: The Reality Behind the Romance"). 2017.
* Williams, Roger Neville. ''The New Exiles: American War Resisters in Canada.'' New York: Liveright. 1970.

==External links==
* [[b:How To Beat The Draft Board|How To Beat the Draft Board]] – a "tutorial" published in 2017 on [[Wikibooks]], a project of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]]
* [http://www.thehypertexts.com/The%20Shministim.htm  Hyper Texts] – provides information on the Israeli anti-draft group Shministim, mentioned above
* [https://hasbrouck.org/draft  National Resistance Committee] – provides information to U.S. citizens who do not wish to register or otherwise cooperate with the draft.  Sponsored by [[War Resisters League]], mentioned above.
* [http://www.newprofile.org/english/about_en  New Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223182947/http://www.newprofile.org/english/about_en |date=2018-02-23 }} – English-language website of New Profile, Israeli anti-draft group mentioned above
* [https://www.sss.gov  Selective Service System] – official site of the government agency that registers young male U.S. citizens for the military draft
* [https://depts.washington.edu/antiwar/vietnam_draft.shtml  Vietnam War: Draft Resistance] – historical site for Draft Resistance Seattle, example of the locally based U.S. anti-draft groups mentioned above
* [http://www.vcn.bc.ca/~jjones/amcan.html  Vietnam War Resisters in Canada] – annotated guide to texts and websites from the 1960s to the present.  Compiled by scholar Joseph Jones, mentioned above.
* [https://www.wri-irg.org/en/co/rtba/index.html  War Resisters International] – based in Britain.  Monitors conscription and conscientious objection in nations around the world.

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