Military deployment on campuses put staff, students at risk

The presence of Myanmar’s military on university campuses since the military coup in 2021 has caused chaos in the past few months, with staff and students being effectively trapped on site during outbreaks of armed conflict, raising allegations of civilians serving as human shields.

On 26 February at Kalay University in the Sagaing Region, located in the north-west of Myanmar, 150 teachers and students were rescued by the People’s Defence Force (PDF) after the PDF launched an attack against junta troops stationed at the university.

The PDF is the armed forces of the National Unity Government (NUG), the opposition government in exile, which fights alongside various ethnic armed groups in the country against the junta forces.

The Sagaing region, which has seen heavy fighting for many months, has been ravaged by junta atrocities since the 2021 coup, including the burning of houses, the burning of villagers alive, and deadly air attacks on schools, according to a wide range of documentation and reports.

A representative of the NUG Ministry of Defence told University World News that junta troops have been strategically positioned at various locations within the Kalay University campus since 2021. The locations include the university's entrance archway, the gymnasium, the hill near the Bandola dormitory, the Department of Myanmar Language, and other places.

Armed with heavy weapons, the junta troops supported junta soldiers on the ground in shooting at settlements in the Chin Hills and areas around Kalay town.

Trapped

“During our early attack against the junta’s troops stationed at the campus on 26 February we found that civilian teachers and students had become trapped between the junta’s troops and us, the resistance fighters. We moved the students and teachers to safe places.

“We rescued more than 150 people. We learned later that over 500 students and teachers were on campus,” the representative told University World News. No one was injured during the rescue.

The rescued students and teachers were later transferred to Township Administrative Teams which are set up in areas held by PDF forces. The teams are made up of locals who contribute to the township’s safety by distributing accurate information about the junta, raising funds for the township’s security, and resolving conflicts that include two or more people.

Due to frequent military operations and the large number of internally displaced people living in the area, those rescued were sent home in batches.

According to the junta’s propaganda pages on social media managed by junta supporters, junta troops rescued 285 people “from being captured by PDF forces” and accused the PDF of “arresting” the students. The Kalay PDF clarified that their forces did not capture them as “prisoners of war” but rather rescued them out of humanitarian concern.

Rector’s testimony

One of the teachers rescued by the PDF was Kalay University Rector Dr Yawhan Tun. Speaking in a short video posted on the NUG’s Ministry of Defence social media page, he said the junta had a force stationed on campus there since he moved from Haka University to Kalay University in September 2021. He found that the troops were responsible for the university’s security and were guarding the entry gate. They had occasionally fired heavy ammunition from the campus.

Kalay University is not the only campus used by the junta forces in this way. Junta military forces were also stationed at Technological University (Kalay), the representative of NUG’s Ministry of Defence said in remarks to University World News.

“It seems that the Myanmar military has chosen university locations in line with their military strategy. Almost all of them [the campuses] are on the outskirts of cities, and it is of military importance to control the village areas outside the city,” the representative said.

“The buildings are also structurally sound. At the same time, schools are being forced to open with the students they enrolled, so teachers and students are being used as human shields,” the NUG representative claimed.

Loikaw University rescue

When the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), an ethnic armed organisation, attacked two junta military groups stationed at Loikaw University in Kayah State in November last year, the KNDF also managed to rescue nearly 200 teachers and their family members.

The junta administration maintained, however, that the teachers and their family members were being held by KNDF as hostages or prisoners of war.

Junta troops at the university fought for four days before surrendering to the KNDF. Around 100 junta soldiers stationed at the university were killed in the fighting, according to the KNDF.

Five university staff, including Loikaw University Rector U Aung Khin Myint (59), and Vice-Rector Daw Thidar, were detained for further investigation, and for their own safety due to ongoing battles in the area, KNDF said.

The university members were last week found guilty by the Karenni Interim Executive Council established by officials of Karenni armed groups, including the KNDF, of associating with the junta under the Unlawful Association Communication Act, based on evidence submitted and their own confessions. On 6 March they were each handed down two-year prison terms and fined MMK900,000 (US$423).

Kachin State attacks

A number of offensive attacks have also been launched by other ethnic armed forces together with local PDFs. This month the Kachin Independence Army launched a fresh offensive on junta forces in Kachin State, which has seen similar deployments at campuses.

The local Khit Thit and other media reported that the junta army came to Bhamo University in Bhamo town, Kachin State, on 7 March, forcing teachers and students to relocate within two hours. While the students went back home, teachers and staff were relocated three miles away to the Technological University in Bhamo.

The Myanmar military is also stationed at different universities in areas where there has been no fighting. Ma Cherry Hnaung, an alumna of Taunggyi University who had studied mathematics, told University World News she witnessed the presence of soldiers at the university, the main university in Myanmar’s Shan State.

“Last month, we went to Taunggyi University to attend the university’s Teacher’s Paying Homage Ceremony. We were asked the reason for our visit by soldiers at the entrance gate. This encounter scared us,” Ma Cherry Hnaung said.

Such events hosted by high schools or universities, during which alumni honour their retired teachers, are common in Myanmar.