All Burma Federation of Student Unions

The All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) is the umbrella organisation for all the student unions in Burma (also Myanmar) and is an active voice for academic freedoms and student rights throughout the country. ABFSU offers a reliable source of information to the outside world, reporting regularly on the attempts of the military government (SPDC) to intimidate and silence those involved in the pro-democracy movement.

Since 1988 a new arm of ABFSU has been working outside Burma specifically to inform the international community of rights violations in the country and of the crisis in education taking place there. The ‘All Burma Federation of Students Unions - Foreign Affairs Committee’, or ABFSU-FAC, hopes to expose issues (for example) in Burma to a wider audience, accelerate the development of international student organizations and promote worldwide student activism.

A forum for debate and a platform to those speaking out for the rights of students, ABFSU has been at the forefront of resistance to the forces of political oppression in its various guises for more than 70 years. In that time hopes of achieving democracy have taken shape and been strengthened through resistance to British colonialism, to fascism, and to the current military dictatorship. Over time the group’s interests have inevitably shifted focus from the struggle for independence to one for democracy, justice and national reconciliation.

The roots of ABSFU extend back to the Burmese independence movement of the 1930s. In 1931, the Rangoon University Students’ Union (RUSU) was formed as a social organization by Aung San, the later military General and so-called ‘father of Burmese independence’, and, indeed, paternal father of 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1950505.stm).In 1931, the Rangoon University Students’ Union (RUSU) was formed as a social organization. In 1935, our independence hero Aung San and his friends U Nu(later the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Burma), U Thein Pe (later the General Secretary of Communist Party of Burma),UBa Swe(later the Prime Minister)and U Kyaw Nyein (later the Deputy Prime Minister) became the leaders of the RUSU and led the second university students’ strike against British colonial rule. In 1935, RUSU leaders led the second university students’ strike against British colonial rule (the Pacific War hampered progress but independence finally arrived on January 4, 1948). On May 8, 1936, the first students’ conference was held in Rangoon. Organized by RUSU, it marked the formation of the All Burma Students’ Union (ABSU). In 1951, the All Burma Students’ Union (ABSU) changed its name to the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) to represent all students in Burma. ABFSU became active in both educational reform and peaceful campaigning for the establishment of democracy and protecting the right to education. During the Sixth Conference of the ABFSU in 1960, the so-called ‘five policies’, and ‘three flags’ of the organization were adopted unanimously in order to work towards a democratic educational system, safeguarding student rights, democracy, and national peace and reconciliation.

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