Student Diplacement in Contemporary Myanmar
Following Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, thousands of university students joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), abandoning their studies and, in many cases, their homes. Some sought refuge in ethnic-controlled areas inside Myanmar, while others crossed the border into Thailand. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with 29 students conducted between 2024 and 2025, this book examines how displaced students experienced, understood, and sustained resistance under radically changed circumstances. It traces the divergent trajectories of those who remained in Myanmar and those who entered exile, from boycotting military-controlled universities and establishing alternative education networks to political organizing, fundraising, and armed resistance. Despite these differences, both groups maintained a shared identity as CDM students and a commitment to refusing the legitimacy of military rule. The book argues that displacement does not mark the end of political resistance, but can instead become a means through which movements persist, adapt, and transform.
- THEME