Students and Monks from Mawlamyine Sent Back Home

Kaowao: September 29, 2007

The news emerged that monks studying at the monasteries and University students who finished their examinations were sent back home from the capital of Mon State.

“The protest leaders were arrested and students and all the monks were sent back to their home yesterday, so no more marching in Mawalmyine,” sources from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) reported.

One University student said that, “On September 27, the government authorities were already arranging the trucks at the front of the student hostels to send them to their home.”

“I don’t live in the hostel, I live in my relative’s house in the Myine Tharyar quarter, but I was sent back. The head of the authorities in the quarter was previously preparing the trucks for the students, so as soon as they finished the examination they came to the hostel and let us collect our belongings to go back. Even though we wanted to go back tomorrow, they didn’t allow us to stay and forced us to go back as soon as possible,” a second year Mawlamyine University student told to Kaowao Reporter.

A Monk from the studying temple reported, “The monks in Mawlamyine were also forced to go back. On September 26 the authorities came and ordered the monks to go back, so on the 27th they came and picked us up with the trucks.”

According to another monk, “On the night of the 26th the authorities came to the monasteries to investigate, remind the monks to stop their protest and order the monks who were from the village to go back to their home. Then they arrested over 40 monks who were on the list of the leader of the demonstration.”

Protests happened for a moment in Mawlamyine on September 27 but the news emerged that the authorities would use violence to crack down on the demonstration. Therefore at 3 p.m the protesters broke up their group.

According to Khitpyaing News, to crack down on the demonstration, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Karen ceasefire group and SPDC came down to Mawlamyine on September 25 with 10 trucks along the Myawadee motor road.