Burmese Government Urged to Cease the Assault and Arrest of Students Protesting in Letpadan and Rangoon

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the latest instance of brutal and indiscriminate assault by the police and vigilante groups against the students, monks, and residents in Letpadan who have been peacefully exercising their civil and political rights […]

2015 Palm Campaign: “Even Though I’m Free I Am Not” – Extended in Light of the Recent Mass Arrests of Peaceful Protestors

Today – March 13, 2015 – the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and the Former Political Prisoners Society (FPPS) announce the extension of the 2015 Palm Campaign in light of the recent violent government crackdowns and mass arrests of at least 127 peaceful protestors […]

ASEAN Youth Forum Strongly Condemns Brutality and Violence Taken Against Students Protest in Myanmar!!!

The endless and painful struggle of Myanmar students for education reform has resulted to violence and brutality of the police in Yangon and Letpadan […]

USCB Demands Burma Cease All Violence on Protestors; Urges U.S. Government to Investigate Regime-backed Actions of Brutality and Suppression Against Protestors

(Washington DC, March 11, 2015) – Today, March 11, 2015, U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB) demands an end to the violence exerted on protesting students in Rangoon and Letpadan, and calls for an international investigation on the Burmese regime’s actions on citizens who assemble and protest peacefully […]

Burma: Police Baton-Charge Student Protesters

(New York, March 11, 2015) – The Burmese police should end their crackdown on student protests and investigate officers responsible for the use of excessive force against protesters, Human Rights Watch said today […]

Myanmar: Violent Police Crackdown Against Protesters Must End

The violent police crackdown on largely peaceful protesters in Myanmar amounts to unnecessary and excessive use of force and must end immediately, Amnesty International said […]

Meaningful Dialogue on the National Education Law is the Burma Government’s Obligation

In last week’s blog, Burma Partnership examined Burma’s burgeoning student movement, shedding light on the authorities’ repressive response to the protests and setting the issue in the wider context of Burma’s hollow political reforms. This week has seen no let-up, with the students continuing to dominate the headlines as support for them increases and the pressure steadily builds.

Of most concern to the Burma Government must be the fact that the protests are multiplying and spreading: no longer merely confined to Rangoon, the movement has seen students hailing from regions ranging from the Irrawaddy Delta to Tavoy in the southern Tenasserim Region join their fellow brothers and sisters in solidarity. Another significant development is that the ranks of the protest movement are swelling with those, such as monks, political activists and ordinary local residents from passing towns and villages, who want to declare their support […]

In the Face of Government Intransigence, Burma’s Students March On

In Burma Partnership’s 2014 end-of-year review, we identified the role of student unions in Burma’s political affairs as one of the more notable and inspiring developments of 2014: “Burma’s students were always at the center of major democracy movements throughout history – most notably in 1988 – and have now made a comeback.” Furthermore, we declared that “it is the students that represent the greatest hope for the people of Burma – and the greatest threat to the Burma Government. It is vital that their progressive voice continues to be heard.” Indeed, these forecasts have been borne out, as January 2015 has seen the student movement go from strength to strength.

The underlying catalyst for this burgeoning student movement – and wider public support for it – is the overwhelming conclusion that Burma’s so-called reforms have now hit crisis point. Objections started with more “big picture” accusations that the political reforms initiated in 2011 have proven to be fake, accusations that are now crystallizing into fears that the national elections slated for later this year will be fixed, postponed or cancelled. More recently, students have honed in on specific issues, most notably education reform, land rights abuses, and violent responses to peaceful protests on the part of the authorities. […]

အမ်ဳိးသားပညာေရးဥပေဒကိစၥ ညွိႏႈိင္းေဆြးေႏြးရန္ ေက်ာင္းသားမ်ား၏လႈပ္ရွားမႈမ်ားအေပၚ အရပ္ဘက္လူထုအဖြဲ႔အစည္းမ်ား၏ သေဘာထားေၾကျငာခ်က္

Education sector reform during transition period is very important and fundamental for the future of Myanmar.The 60-day period for negotiation declared by students has expired and students have resumed their protest activities against the National Education Law. After encountering various obstacles and obstructions, student representatives met government officials in Naypyidaw on 28 January 2015 and signed an agreement committing to the quadripartite dialogue.

Statement of civil society organization on students’ actions against National Education Law following the overdue 60-day deadline for negotiation

Education sector reform during transition period is very important and vital for the future of Myanmar
The 60-day period for negotiation declared by students has passed and students have resumed their protest activities against the National Education Law. Student from Mandalay have begun their march from Mandalay to Yangon on the 20 January while students from other parts of the country have carried out their protest activities in their respective areas as well […]