By @Study_INTNL
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been
forced out of Myanmar in what is being called a “clearance operation”. So why
are universities still collaborating with the Myanmar government?
The United Nations (UN) has called the situation in
Myanmar a “textbook example of
ethnic cleansing”, with reports of violence and rape following rising
tensions between religious groups. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rohingya-crisis-death-toll-burma-army-rakhine-muslims-un-myanmar-a8022931.html
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have lost their homes
and been forced into neighbouring country Bangladesh.
Among the universities in close collaboration with
Myanmar include the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester,
according to The Times Higher
Education (THE). https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/universities-pressured-cut-myanmar-ties-over-rohingya-crisis
The Open University is currently negotiating a GB£4.6
million (US$6 million) grant from the Myanmar government to join Manchester and
Oxford. The universities encourage distance learning in the country through
online courses.
However, questions have been raised regarding the ethics
of collaborating with the Myanmar government.
Penny Green, professor of law and globalization and
director of the International State Crime Initiative at Queen Mary University
of London, told THE that investing in education in Myanmar is irresponsible.
The country should be boycotted for their “genocide” rather than supported.
This opinion is also echoed by an anonymous group of academics
at the Open University, who accused the Open University of being “willing to
give up its principles… for £4.6 million,” according to THE.
In response to these allegations, universities involved
in educational projects have explained that education is the best way to tackle
unjust oppression.
“We believe that there is no more effective antidote to
oppression, wherever it may occur, than an educated population,” a spokesperson
for the Open University told THE.
“[The university is] actively investigating the
possibility of extending this opportunity to people who have been forced to
flee Myanmar.”
Khin Mar Mar Kyi, the inaugural Aung San Suu Kyi gender
research fellow at Oxford and the first senior Burmese female academic at the
institution, said: “At Oxford University, like many other universities, our
duty is to them more than ever. We need to focus on strengthening education in
Burma. This is the only way we can transform society and build peace and
democracy in the country.”
Kelly Smith, pro vice-chancellor (international) at La
Trobe University in Melbourne, who is a board member of the Australia Myanmar
Institute, added that the suggestion that universities should “disengage” from
Myanmar was “patently absurd”.
“It suggests a form of collective punishment of the very
institutions in a country that may be able to influence the direction of public
policy through the principles of academic freedom that we cherish and so
vigorously defend,” he said.
