Kachin students forcibly evicted from Rangoon

Bauk Ja, a Kachin activist. Photo: Mizzima

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Local authorities have ordered 19 Kachin students in Thanlyin Township in Rangoon to return to their hometowns in Kachin State no later than 6 p.m. Wednesday, according to National Democratic Force member Bauk Ja.

Police and local authorities informed the students on Tuesday, she said. The students, ranging in age from eight to and 20, are from Putao, Machanbaw and Sumprabun townships. They are living in a home in the Bogyoke Village-tract in Thanlyin and studying at primary schools, middle school, high school and universities in Thanlyin.


‘They have not been permitted to renew their guest registrations. Last night, the local authorities ordered the students to go back. If the students fail to obey the order, they will be arrested, according to the warning’, Bauk Ja told Mizzima.

Under Burmese laws, if a Burmese citizen wants to stay overnight at a friend’s home or anywhere else where he or she is not listed as a house member, their stay must be reported to local authorities.

She said the students came to Rangoon to study, and they have decided not to go return to their homes and will stay in the home in Thanlyin whatever the consequences.

‘We are just nonentities. We came here to study. But, if they want to arrest us, we can do nothing’, Bauk Ja quoted a student as saying.

The home is owned by a Kachin man who loaned it to the students at the start of the academic year in May.

To clarify the case, Bauk Ja said she went to the Township Administrative Office and talked with chief Moe Khine about the case.

‘He said that he didn’t grant that we are ethnic people. He told me not to voice any complaint. When I asked him which law applied to the refusal for a guest registration, he just told me not to complain. In response, I told him that we were Burmese citizens, and the students would continue to stay in the home whatever the consequences’, Bauk Ja said.

Bauk Ja said that a complaint would be lodged at the Township Administrative Office, and she would petition President Thein Sein. She was an unsuccessful electoral candidate in Hpakant Township with the National Democratic Force.

Fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese government troops has continued in Kachin State this week, and many residents have fled their homes.

Source:http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5422-kachin-students-forcibly-evicted-from-rangoon.html