Another two Universities raided by opposition PDF forces with hundreds of students and teachers abducted
Yangon, 1 March 2024
In a flagrant violation of the laws of war, the opposition PDF forces, under the National League for Democracy (NLD) led parallel Government (National Unity Government NUG), terrorized two State Universities in Myanmar and abducted hundreds of students and employees on February 26 and 28. The abduction of students and teachers from the school campus was claimed responsibility by local PDF forces.
According to news releases from both sides of the conflict, on February 26th, around 7:30 AM, the University of Kalay was marauded by combined forces of Chin ethnic rebels called the Chin National Army (CNA), Chinland Defence Force (CDF), and Kalay regional PDF. They abducted over 300 students and teachers from the residential quarters of the Physics and Zoology Departments. The ruling State Administration Council (SAC) government forces were dispatched, and rebel alliance forces withdrew from the University Campus, leaving some of their casualties. Government forces rescued 285 abductees after heavy fighting. The rebels claimed that they still hold around a hundred students and teachers. The Kalay University, which is state-owned and situated 9 miles from Kalay city, serves students from Chin State but is located at the border of Sagaing Division. The CNA/CDF claimed responsibility and stated that they were holding a number of students and teachers to take legal action under the guidance of the NUG parallel Government. The Chin rebels and NUG have formed the Traditional Administration Council for Kalay University and consider all students and teachers to continue their normal study under the military Government (they use the term non-Civil Defiance Movement or persons who do not join the Civil Defiance movement by walking out of their jobs or classrooms) as collaborators of the regime. They would face a public trial for betraying the legitimate Government which they claim to be. The CDF also issued a statement about the death of a former student from Kalay University who joined CDF forces as a soldier in the battle to occupy the University campus, while the SAC junta forces displayed the dead bodies of rebel soldiers with CNA uniforms after the battle in the University Campus.
In a separate incident a few days later, on February 28th, PDF forces raided Dawei Technical University in southern Thaninthayi Division on the Andaman coast. The combined forces of Karen ethnic rebel KTLA and PDF, under the command of NUG, raided the University, which is located about 8 miles from Dawei city, and abducted 3 Professors, including Vice Rector Dr. Kyaw Aung. According to local reports, the University campus was evacuated, and hundreds of students and teachers were transferred to Dawei city after the incident. The local PDF forces claimed responsibility and stated that the hostages, considered as collaborators of the rival regime, would face a public trial under the NUG Government they represent.
The abductions of University students and teachers in February are the latest in series of repeated attacks on the State’s education system, which began on November 14, 2023, with the abduction of over 200 students and teachers from Loikaw University in Kayah State. According to news released by the local NUG government, all the abductees faced public trial, and some were released and deported to the neighboring Shan State after being found guilty of collaborating with the rival regime by working and studying as usual during the revolutionary period. The Rector of Loikaw University, Dr. Aung Khin Myint, and other Professors are still kidnapped by the NUG until now.
The education is state funded in Myanmar, the poorest country in South East Asia and very few private education services are affordable exclusively for the few elites. The State sector remains as the largest employer in Myanmar after the collapse of Socialist State. The military staged a coup on February 2021 after the dispute in Pandemic era 2020 election. The NLD/NUG which is the exiled revolutionary Government based in Thailand contolled hundreds of local armed groups and hit-squads collectively known as PDF and considered all of the employees of the state sector, students and anyone who resume normal life under the military Junta led SAC Government as the enemy of the revolution or Dalan in Myanmar language. The NUG drafted laws to take action on the enemy of the revolution (a.k.a non participants of Civil Disobedience Movement) and thousands of such accused civilans were summarily executed by hit squads while high profle figures like University Ractors are detained in makeshift camps.
In 2023, the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center (GTTAC) of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism issued a report on global terrorist incidents in 2022, ranking Myanmar as 3rd in terrorism fatalities. The main perpetrators of the terror killings in Myanmar in 2022, as reported by GTTAC, are the KPDF who raided Loikaw University in November 2023, CDF who raided Kalay University in February 2024, and PDF who raided Dawei Technology University in February 2024. The acts of terror by these three rebel factions committed after the data collection period of 2022 might be reported in the following years.
The intentional attacks on civilian objects, such as schools, hospitals, and cultural monuments, are considered war crimes under International Law Article 8(2)(b)(ii) of the Rome Statute. The rampant violations of International Laws, such as targeting civilians, attacks on hospitals, recruitment of child soldiers, and torture, have been happening in the three years of renewed Myanmar Civil War. But the violations of laws by one side of the conflict in the 76-year-old Civil War are only reported to the international community, as social media and sources of news for foreign language media are dominated by popular political opinion and partisan activists.
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