Webinar: Academic Freedom in Asia Series 2: Academics at the Frontlines and Crossfires in Myanmar

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For decades, academics in Myanmar have been playing an important role in building and strengthening democracy in the country, providing intellectual leadership, mobilizing students, mainstreaming human rights values, documenting abuses, and advocating for regional international support.

It has been more than 19 months since, against the will of the Myanmar people, the military illegitimately overthrew the democratically elected government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. As of this time, the junta has been committing crimes against humanity, using excessive force to cling on to power and purge those who are not aligned with their maligned agenda. An organized people’s revolt, the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), rose as a sudden response to this atrocity. At least 400,000 civil servants have joined the Struggle, with the Education Sector having the highest number— most of whom have participated in protests and boycotts.

Academics associated with CDM have been bullied, relieved from work, and have fled the country as a result of widespread crackdown. Those who remain in the country continue to live in fear, and in utter uncertainty. They have been experiencing threats of arbitrary arrests, and regulated freedom of movement. Furthermore, digital insecurity has affected both teaching and learning. This has gravely affected their morale, as well as the ability to realize their passions.

The second Academic Freedom in Asia series aims to highlight on the stories of academic-activists, based inside Myanmar and abroad. Amid the fragile situation, they have been committed to shaping emerging builders of Myanmar, and to reclaiming democratic values and institutions taken by the military junta.