Military conscription, cowardice, and refugees.

The Ukrainian refugee thread has raised this quite a few times, with some posters expressing condemnation of the Ukrainian men who didn't stay to fight. Ukraine had conscription of a large section of age groups for males. However, Ukraine is neither in the EU, nor has Ireland ever encouraged the concept of conscription being ab acceptable practice. In addition there was the claim that men who didn't fight should operate in the logistical aspect of the war effort, but there was no similar suggestion that women do the same. (I'd also be of the opinion that a woman could fire a rifle just aswell as a man, but I guess similar equality in such respects is highly unlikely)

Now, personally, I don't agree with conscription, and believe that it runs counter to the freedoms that we are so proud of in the West. Also, we don't know the individual circumstances of those who come to Ireland, and so, males should be accepted equally with females. Some of the men might be parents whose significant other stayed in Ukraine as part of the logistical support, or perhaps they're widowers/single parents. Or perhaps they have some kind of disability that excludes them from service. And then, there are those who simply don't want to fight in a war. I wouldn't consider that to be cowardice, but simply a choice to be made. TBH I'd probably avoid a war myself unless I had no real option otherwise. I do think most westerners who have never been trained in the military or aren't particularly fit physically, would likely be the same.

I've seen a lot of grandiose claims online from posters about what they would do in such a situation. Stepping up to fight if their country was under attack, but in reality, it's all hot air, because Ireland is unlikely, if ever, to face such a situation.

Lacking any State policy/decision made public that Ireland would enforce the conscription of Ukrainians, and return males to Ukraine to fight or face "justice", why shouldn't Ukrainian males make the same journey as females to come here for sanctuary and support?

At the same time, I'd like to expand this beyond the Ukrainian conflict.. With the Syrian conflict, we saw very large numbers of young males enter Europe as refugees, but there's wasn't (at least from what I've seen) the same condemnation for their refusal to fight in their war. Same with Ethiopia or a dozen other conflicts across the world, where people (both male and female) have left as refugees, and accepted here as such. Is the only difference that Ukraine employed conscription, and that justifies the condemnation of those males fleeing? Or is it because Ukraine is seen {now} as being European, and so a higher standard is extended to them, that isn't applied to those from the M.East or Africa?

I'd be curious to see what kind of discussion we could have about this. Not simply about Ukraine, because then the thread would be merged with existing threads (or shut down), but also the case of other conflicts around the world. And what about the future? What about when/if China goes to war over Taiwan, should we exclude both Taiwanese and Chinese males from seeking refugee status, as you can be certain both countries will have conscription as part of their policies..?

And later, if/when the EU creates a coalition military, how would you feel about conscription should the EU face a major war? In all honesty, without the posturing common on the internet, would you step up to fight, welcome conscription of yourself and others, or be against it? And if you would be against it, how does that apply to other conflicts and other nationalities?