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AASYC Statement on the Protest by Site-tway (Sittwe) Technological University Students Against the Increase in School Bus Fares
Date: July 7, 2010
Reg.: AASYC/ GHQ/ Release/ 03/ 2010
On the 5 July 2010, about (200) Site-tway (Sittwe) Technological University students took to the streets to call for their basic rights, which were being and continue to be deliberately neglected by the SPDC. The main reason that the students staged the protest was the fact that the fares of the school buses running from Site-tway to the university and ( vice versa) had doubled. The government- controlled All Bus Lines Control Committee (Ma Hta Tha) was fully responsible for this incident.
We, the All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress (AASYC), believe that the series of events that culminated in protest took place not because of the students and the bus drivers struggling for their daily survival but because of the gover nment’s mismanagement. Recently, the Burmese military regime turned over the ownership of almost all energy-related businesses to private companies; since then the prices of diesel and petrol have been rising at an alarming rate. Consequently, the students and bus owners have been facing unprecedented difficulties.
We, the All Ar akan Students’ and Youths’ Congress ( AASYC), moreover , strongly condemn the actions of the SPDC soldiers who pointed their guns at and intimidated the innocent student protesters, as they were making their demands entirely peacefully.
Previously in Site-tway (Sittwe), protests regarding a school bus shortage and o ther related student protests took place in January 2006, September 2008 and Januar y 2009 r esp ectively, but the government did not implement any effective measures to deal with these concerns whatsoever. Local authorities simplyig no red the issues and, instead, exerted pressure on the students involved in the protests. It is in this very way that successive Burmese military regimes have persisted to violently handle all crises involv ing students in Burma.
We, the All Arakan Students’ and Yo uths’ Congress (AASYC), thus, fully support and who lehearted ly welcome this justified and d ig nified protest by the university students. And we encourage them to boldly continue their struggle, remaining d efiant over and disobeying all unjustified orders given by the military regime until their demands are granted. Video Clip
Central Executive Committee
All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress ( AASYC)
General Headquarters, Thai-Burma Border
Contact Phone Number : +66 (0) 816 808 934
Overview of Land Confiscation in Arakan State
June 2010
- Introduction
The following analysis has been compiled to bring attention to a wider audience of many of the problems facing the people of Burma, especially in Arakan State. The analysis focuses particularly on the increase in land confiscation resulting from intensifying military deployment in order to magnify security around a number of governmental developments such as the Shwe Gas, Kaladan, and Hydropower projects in western Burma of Arakan State.
Article 17 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that:
- Everyone has the right to own property along as well as in association with others.
- No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
However, article 18 of the 1974 Constitution of Burma stated against international norms that:
- The State is the ultimate owner of all natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the waters and in the atmosphere, and also of all the lands.
This law was reaffirmed in January 2004 as one of the State Fundamental Principles.
- Brief Background of Arakan State
Arakan State, with four dynastic eras (from BC 3325 to AD 1784); Dhanyawaddy, Vesali, Laymro and Mrauk-U, operated as an independent sovereign state for over 5,000 years. Its sovereignty was lost when the Burmans invaded in 1784 establishing Arakan State as a state of Burma.
Separated from Burma’s other ethnic nationalities by the Arakan Roma mountain range, the Arakanese people have customs and a language of their own. With approximately three and a half million inhabitants, Arakan State accounts for approximately 6 % of the total population of Burma. Situated on the Bay of Bengal, the Arakan state enjoys an abundance in natural resources such as forests, a coastline therefore direct access to the sea and long stretches of beaches, and the fertile land within the Kaladan and Laymro River valleys. Many Arakan inhabitants conduct their economic activity through rice farming and fishing; the cornerstones of their identity and daily survival. The state is divided into 4 districts and 17 townships, 3 sub-townships, 20 towns, 132 quarters, 1,040 village-tracts and 3,861 villages. The capital city, Site-tway, also known as Akyab, has a population of approximately 400,000 and is located on an estuarial island at the confluence of the Kaladan, Laymro, and Mayu rivers.
However, due to its abundance of natural resources and biodiversity, Arakan State has suffered a high level of land confiscation by the SPDC who wish to use the land for development, often in conjunction with other countries rather than the local people. Furthermore, the SPDC has increased militarisation within these areas to ensure the unopposed exploitation of natural resources.
Arakanese University Student Brutally Murdered by SPDC
On the 9th February 2010, 23-year old university student, Maungg Aye Cho was brutally murdered by two SPDC soldiers in a horrific unlawful attack. The soldiers, identified as Corporal Soe Win and Corporal Chit San Thein from the Site-tway (Sittwe) are stationed with the SPDC medical battalion, based near Thun Pon Tann in Site-tway Township.
Maungg Aye Cho, a first-year student at Site-tway University, lived in Kyee Bun Gree ward, Site-tway, with his parents, U Hla Maung, who is a writer, and Daw Khin Cho who is a civil servant, working at Site-tway Telegram office. The attack was believed to be a result of the student being accused of theft by a village vendor named Lay Htee Maung alias Khin Maung, whilst he was buying food in the store. The student was taken to the Chairman of the Village Peace and Development Council, U Hla Khin Maung, where he was questioned. Maung Aye Cho denied committing the crime or thieving anything, rather only to being a student studying at Site-tway University.
Can We Resolve Political Crisis in Burma?
Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has an abundance of natural resources. It is the largest country on the mainland of Southeast Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand. It has a total area of 261,969 sq mi (678,500 sq km) and land boundaries of 5,876 km (Bangladesh and India in the west, with borders of 193 km and 1,463 km respectively). China, Thailand and Laos are also neighbors of Burma in the east, with borders of 2,185 km, 1,800 km, and 235 km respectively. Burma is also famous for its diverse ethnicities. In fact, there are about 135 ethnic nationalities residing in Burma.
Marijuana being sold in Site-tway (Sittwe) University canteens
January 5, 2010
Ko Khine Mrat Lunn of the Site-tway University Students’ Union (SUSU) has told the Arakan Review that “university students from Site-tway University are buying Marijuana cheaply from canteens in the university compound and using it with a local brand of cigarettes called “Three Lions”.
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Statement on the 225th Anniversary of the Loss of National Sovereignty of Arakan
Date: December 31, 2009
Ref: AASYC/ GHQ/ Release/ 13/ 09
Since 6000 B.C.E, the Arakanese nation stood proud amongst the nations of the world, exercising sovereignty and developing independent literature and culture. However, taking advantage of the lack of national solidarity and a period of political instability in the history of Arakan, in 1784 the Burman chauvinists invaded and colonized Arakan after a request by the Royal Court of Arakan to intervene in a palace crisis and install a new a prince on the throne.
Not content with the occupation and colonization of Arakan, imperialist Burman governors took measures to Burmanize the language, literature and culture of Arakan between 1784 and 1826. By committing mass rape and forced marriage against Arakanese women, the Burman expansionists plotted the extinction of our nationality.
