CAMPUS COMMOTION: RANGOON AND MYITKYINA STUDENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000365

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM MOPS BM
SUBJECT: CAMPUS COMMOTION: RANGOON AND MYITKYINA STUDENT
PROTESTS


Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Summary: According to Embassy sources, recent
student-led protests over administrative issues at two
university campuses, one located in a Rangoon suburb and the
other in Kachin State in northern Burma, resulted in military
intervention to restore "order." These reports indicate the
regime remains determined to prohibit even minor dissent on
the country's few remaining campuses. End summary.


2. (C) In mid-March, several hundred students at a government
computer science institute in Hlawgar, located some 20 miles
north of central Rangoon, reportedly boycotted classes to
protest against a lecturer in a dispute involving attendance
issues. As a result, school authorities identified 175
students (about 75 percent of the student body) as ineligible
to sit for final exams for failure to attend regular classes.
The ruling led to a spontaneous demonstration and the
institute's rector appealed to Rangoon's Military Commander,
who dispatched troops o/a March 16 to take control of the
campus.


3. (C) In a separate incident, o/a March 11 several hundred
students at Myitkyina University in Kachin State reportedly
massed at a downtown police station to protest the arrest of
two fellow students who had refused demands from a police
officer for bribe money. Military units intervened to assist
police in quelling the protest and arrested as many as ten
students. Sources claim that the university has remained
closed since March 11. Although international media sources
have reported the events in Myitkyina and claims that
soldiers fired warning shots, Embassy officers who visited
the city on March 17 reported no unusual activity or evidence
of lingering tensions.


4. (C) Comment: The SPDC closed most urban campuses in the
early 1990s as a result of 1988 student political
demonstrations. The few "satellite" and "distance learning"
campuses that have reopened in recent years are located in
remote, rural locations as a means to discourage student
activism. These recent, seemingly minor, student actions
appear to be innocuous administrative protests. However,
reports of military intervention indicate the depth of regime
paranoia regarding campuses as potential hotbeds of political
activism. End comment.
Martinez