Otago student studies from conflict’s midst
PROTESTERS being shot by snipers while families fight for their lives has become daily life for John Philip.
The University of Otago peace and conflict studies masters student is studying remotely from his home town of Loikaw, near the eastern border of Myanmar, and is using his experiences and collecting witness accounts of events during the ongoing military coup, to publish in his thesis.
Myanmar has been under military control since a coup in February 2021, when the civilian government, led by the National League for Democracy, was overthrown and the Tatmadaw's (Myanmar’s armed forces) commanderinchief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing became the head of state.
Mr Philip said there were about three months of peaceful protests by young people fighting for democracy in the country, but that all changed when snipers started shooting the protesters in the head.
Since then, many of his friends and family had been fighting the regime on the front lines.
Hundreds had been killed, and there had been reports of about 3000 clashes with the military.
He said he was disappointed by the lack of support and attention from the international community.
‘‘The United Nations is condemning the situation and releasing statements every time there is a noticeable event.
‘‘We are demanding we need action, not statements.
‘‘How many dead bodies [are] needed for you [to] take action?’’
Mr Philip said when he was in high school, he and his peers were ‘‘not very politically aware’’, but the youth of today were very active because they knew what freedom and justice were.
‘‘Young people are taking the leading role in fighting for democracy, and they are willing to give up their lives, for democracy, freedom and justice.
‘‘And yet, their role is not recognised by any political leaders.’’
He was impressed by the level of commitment they were showing, and planned to base the research section of his degree on their movements.
He hoped his masters thesis would build his knowledge around the process of obtaining peace and enable him to apply it to his country’s situation.
‘‘My dream is to help the community, especially the oppressed minority groups, to raise their voice.
‘‘I want to help their voice be heard by the people at the top level of this country.’’