Arakan Students' Union

The Arakan Students' Union (ASU) was founded on August 11, 2012, by Rakhine student youths.

The union's policies are protecting Rakhine national interests, genuine justice and peace, federal democratic education, protecting the rights of students, unity of all Rakhine students, and solidarity with allied student unions (https://www.dmgburmese.com/%E1%80%9E%E1%80%90%E1%80%84%E1%80%BA%E1%80%B8/wat11paw.html). Although it did not announce its activities after founding, in August 2015 it formed a Student Union Revival Committee (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/753156868160598/), and activities to revive the union resumed.

The revival committee took part in the Seven States Student Unions meeting, a pre-21st-Century Panglong civil society consultation, and efforts to hold a Rakhine Youth Conference. Besides taking part in regional workshops on federalism, it attended the second meeting of student unions from the seven states, which adopted seven decisions (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.748200015322950/811291902347094/).

In student affairs, it issued a statement (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.748200015322950/782675935208691/) on a Sittwe Technological University student being beaten by a group, calling on the state government to uncover the truth. On January 1, 2017, it held a union committee meeting and invited unions to meet to build closer relations (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.748200015322950/853435664799384/). In statement 1/2017 (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.748200015322950/915234041952879/), the union's leading committee responded to remarks by Arakan National Party chair Dr. Aye Maung about Paletwa Township in Chin State, saying they risked misunderstanding between fraternal ethnic groups, and asking for understanding of the Arakan Army (AA)'s presence in Paletwa Township, given the neighbouring geography.

In June 2017, it led a multi-university student meeting to bring all Rakhine students together under the union flag. The meeting expanded the "ASU" leading body and drafted a constitution. Attended by Taungup Degree College, the Students' Union (Sittwe University), Kyaukphyu (GTI), the Technological University (Sittwe), the University of Computer Studies Students' Union (Sittwe) and the Rakhine Students' Union (Dagon University), it adopted four decisions (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.748200015322950/944160215726928/).

After holding most of its meetings mainly at pagodas and monasteries, in 2017 it opened a union office for the first time. During this period, it also provided emergency assistance to people of different ethnic groups in the region affected and displaced by ethnic conflicts, and took part in national political movements related to the Rakhine people.

On January 16, 2018, when the authorities refused to allow a "233rd Anniversary Commemoration of the Fall of the Sovereignty of the Arakan Kingdom" in Mrauk-U and protests followed, seven people were killed and at least 12 [injured]; the union issued a statement (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0myhsw6PKaLwHJQRAUBiGWRcR97x2hXkVvGAeQdbkHtmS6kZYKnW9Mr7TFPH3LByl) demanding a rigorous investigation and legal action against the police who responded harshly.

In August 2018, a meeting of unions in Rakhine State and the reconstitution of the leading committee were held at the Taungup Degree College union office, and the union constitution was approved. In Loikaw, Kayah State, ten Karenni residents were charged under Penal Code Sections 505(b) and (c) for calling for objections to the erection of a General Aung San statue; young people were arrested and charged after protests escalated to a strike camp. On February 13, the leading committee issued a position (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02xwwdy5ga3aUxpigq7tFN2RzKT8UYjaJifddHBnj9WPna7rgSo7pdqBRuFMawKYwol) saying this pushes ethnic groups toward narrow views, and that it stands with those arrested.

In March, when military artillery fire on Mrauk-U town in Rakhine State damaged cultural heritage sites, pagodas, homes and innocent civilians, it issued its first ultimatum (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1399972890145656/), objecting and warning that it would not stand by if this continued.

In July, together with the ABFSU and the Rakhine Students' Union (Universities, Yangon), it declared (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1486705161472428/) that the military's stationing troops at religious buildings in Rakhine and Chin states, restricting aid to displaced people, cutting off information and restricting the media, shelling residential buildings, and unlawfully arresting local people amounted to war crimes; that the military must stop its offensives as soon as possible; and that the presence of the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State will be considered and decided based on the will of the Rakhine people.

On July 13, the union held a two-day annual conference at the Thandwe GTC school, also attended by monks. It elected the union leading committees and members; the committees are for operations, finance, information, and external relations and diplomacy (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1500153013460976&set=a.746431602166458). The conference issued an 11-point position statement (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1500256263450651&set=a.746431602166458), stating that if no action was taken, the relevant authorities would be responsible for the problems that followed. The demands included designating the ancient Rakhine capital Mrauk-U a demilitarized zone. Based on these points, student and displaced-people protests arose at universities in the region.

On September 3, 2019, together with unions from six other ethnic regions, the union submitted 11 demands to the Ministry of Education, including the freedom of ethnic languages and introducing a mother-tongue-based multilingual education system. (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1541587625984181/)

On December 17, 2019, the ASU and the Rakhine Students' Union jointly issued a report on the wars in the Rakhine region (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1665696973573245/), stating that recognizing the existence of the Arakan Army (AA) is an important step toward ending the armed fighting. On February 15, 2020, together with the ABFSU and the Rakhine Students' Union (Universities – Yangon), it demanded (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0mCh3W4YcJqZrD7arw96FSGeWNDmLJB1KfgqEG4SEXmvSvSm5f7LQmCkbFJVqq4bul) an end to the internet shutdown, action on 21 students injured by artillery, freedom for the media to gather news, and an independent international commission of inquiry. On February 22, protests calling for "an immediate end to the internet shutdown" began and spread to major cities including Yangon.

On the implementation of an Online Teaching and Learning system at universities while the internet was cut off, it sent an open letter (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1876221965854077/) to Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, chair of the Rectors' Committee, and, together with 19 unions including teachers' unions, issued a statement setting out five points (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1882105265265747/) needed to implement the system, as Ministry of Education orders and directives were overly centralized and inconsistent with democratic education standards.

When COVID-19 cases appeared in the region, it appealed for internet and press freedom so people could get information, and for armed organizations to observe a short-term ceasefire.

On August 28, 2020, when ASU (Kyaukphyu Education College) member Maung Nyi Nyi Soe was detained and tortured by plainclothes soldiers from LIB-757 and released after paying 30,000 kyat, it lodged a complaint addressed to President U Win Myint calling for action against the perpetrators (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1929404923869114/). After this, on September 9, when the union led a protest in front of the state government office calling for the internet to be restored and saying it had no confidence in the central and state governments and did not want the murderous military, some members were arrested and detained (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1931133343696272/) (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02dYRb66JZngG2WeCbmYLX11Lk1pyW1VcaUeFYr9HApxPqCGEUnpEpf9oJydKNuQHGl). The authorities increased security in the capital Sittwe and charged them not under the Peaceful Assembly Law but under the Natural Disaster Management Law, so regional legal groups including the Rakhine State Lawyers' Council and student unions across the country objected and demanded their release (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1934995893310017/). As demands intensified, they were charged under the Peaceful Assembly Law and released on bail (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02jhKfDwVr239trn78DqJ6YgvDQ6qcYCfbnu9Yi7242pF9CXKKQvz2iDY6w1VPqPpHl).

During this period, when the election commission announced on October 16, 2020, that elections could not be held in most of Rakhine, Rakhine student unions jointly declared that they do not recognize the 2008 Constitution or the election. It also warned against using the union's image for election campaigning (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/1968948903248049/). The warning referred to the NLD government as "a fascist proxy government calling itself the Union government" and stated that "there is no option other than holding an all-Arakan referendum and shaping our own destiny".

On February 5, 2021, four days after the February 1 military coup, the union issued a statement (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2074151809394424&set=a.746431602166458) saying the Rakhine people and the ASU clearly know who the common enemy is, and that they believe they will overcome this crisis well as a people capable of shaping their own destiny. On March 21, together with 11 Rakhine student unions, it further declared (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/2109854812490790/)  that it would stand with and support students and the public taking part in the Spring Revolution.

The coup military fined ASU leading members, arrested since the NLD government, 20,000 kyat each under the Peaceful Assembly Law (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0Mhe7b2yh1BvLWB1N3R2kwidTqH7V8PR6aMF16NTtth8Vhg1Gx12uALkrMpRSjnWXl). They continued to stand trial on the remaining charges and on September 16 were each sentenced to two and a half years in prison (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02eEqDHqv5Sfn74uyyYRt2AfsdGSkabBqupEbWurariEqyiy6cD789dak4vmbT8tAul), reduced on December 16 to one year (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02EPMjvSw6rh63NxJecnu7aNqkVuM1Bbvz4PnDTfawJadPfiSn39WBosq53YetWNwjl).

On July 17, the union issued a condolence message (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid021qaiusNzCdkrEW8gKSECRzw3Bs47yk7FjEej5uxBQiyAgoKYgt9Qk4P17RFbQt51l) on the death of Arakan Army (AA) commander Colonel Bo Phone Myat. On December 23, together with Muslim students and the Rakhine Students' Union (Universities – Yangon), it issued a statement (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid031JM5xgdHFtXhHhzsQrQsXsbQzwHK4UPHnU1qreK1KiDgZmDimJRowZJB72e7dUZ1l) warning people to stay vigilant, as suspicious crimes that could cause ethnic and religious problems were repeatedly being found in some townships in Rakhine State.

On January 19, 2022, it announced the list of members serving on the union's leading committee (interim) (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0UeqvuHTcYcxyNnkk9RBHeHcJhhqeqF2p3dSWbumPnKjdW7BcjXVH3gEoXY66kiDil). On May 5, the union and 28 organizations jointly declared (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/photos/a.746431602166458/2462919193851015/) that the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), attending a meeting led by the terrorist junta's peace body, does not represent Rakhine State or the Rakhine people.

On June 5, it announced (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02M7nUtDkVcsgoHbjtDNne6Csm9gEuzcNASrMe7WxkLDaQPENLSx41K2gexD7dLASDl) an alliance with the Rakhine Lineage-Guardian Youth Group to carry out Rakhine nation-building work effectively. During this period, it also provided relief for displaced people in the Rakhine region and vocational courses such as sewing. When Cyclone Mocha struck the Rakhine region, the Arakan Students' Union formed an emergency relief committee (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0d5LkBpPX9HgVmrsvRonKxAgytW6Nx1Bvf6J52Tm6x9veuWzihktugeS9yzH8r6Hdl)  and took part in social work.

When an unknown group kidnapped two education staff from Thinbawhla village, Maungdaw Township, on June 16 and demanded a ransom of 50 lakh Bangladeshi taka, it issued a statement objecting together with Muslim students, warning (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid02dZdEs5xzACWu37ZC8pydFXvRzZpUV1K4m2TTPoxh45L9vEFwoLYBN4JJQwr15nPfl) that there were attempts to incite renewed ethnic and religious problems.

In August 2022, when fighting between the Arakan Army (AA) and the terrorist junta intensified and the junta's attacks targeting civilians caused casualties, it issued a statement (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0aHAUircCWqxh17mY6priPQSWTgh994s5DNFEUeWe95UcqVtfCjgHxTg91Gkigabhl) with student unions in the region strongly condemning them. On May 11, 2023, it issued a statement (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0Fc224o9Swr1aEYXyS3dSewxNXsRT3sT8SMpWbVcXMf8d35kEUi7W7nMP767ueDqJl) strongly objecting to the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) threatening a Grade 11 student from Maw Leik (branch) school in Sittwe at gunpoint and detaining him for 18 days, stating that the ALP was committing a violent fascist act.

Although the ASU has not been deeply involved in the Spring Revolution against military dictatorship, on the terrorist junta's October 9, 2023, artillery attack on the Mung Lai Hkyet displacement camp near Laiza, Kachin State, which killed 29 people and injured more than 60, it jointly with the ABFSU called the incident a mass killing and urged revolutionary forces to give special priority to uprooting the common enemy (https://www.facebook.com/asunion.tcom/posts/pfbid0NKTkakAsMBi4U4ffLAA1w2jruGE3bctesC4HYsFuABQkvm7qyiy6L2fx1dt7coJel). Together with the Civil Servants' Union and the Ayeyarwady Youth Union, it also declared (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=878176033870842&set=a.771944724493974) support for Operation 10:27 by the three Northern Alliance brothers, launched on October 27, and that it would take part by whatever means possible.

On December 11, the union issued a position statement (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=899818118373300&set=a.771944724493974) saying that the terrorist junta was organizing by various means in higher and basic education schools in Rakhine State; that the ASU will march on along the Rakhita path and does not want fascist military-slave education; and declaring (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=899818161706629&set=a.771944724493974) a school boycott at schools where such organizing was taking place.

In connection with the Spring Revolution, on December 30, together with 14 organizations, it issued a position (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=910771150611330&set=a.771944724493974) titled "Oppose Revolutionary Monopoly and Hegemonism". Calling for unity, it urged that the NUG's restricting passage through territory and arresting revolutionary forces not under its command was against the principle of alliance and was destroying the revolution, and that the focus must be on fighting only the common enemy.

References

https://youtube.com/channel/UCjiwgkkjGgIuHd0oKTHW4Qg