Philippines opens universities to 31 Myanmar refugees

November 21, 2024 | 4:21pm

MANILA, Philippines — Thirty-one refugees who fled Myanmar’s military regime are rebuilding their disrupted lives in an unlikely place: classrooms of Philippine universities.

Now immersed in programs from data science to conservation, these scholars — who escaped one of Southeast Asia’s worst humanitarian crises — illustrate the Philippines’ growing role as a refuge for Myanmar nationals escaping armed conflict.

The initiative was launched Monday, November 18, under a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) program. The Philippines is the largest host among seven Asian nations providing scholarships to Myanmar refugees through the initiative, according to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Officially known as the Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship Program, the initiative is present in Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand and the Philippines.

The 31 scholars are spread out across four Philippine schools. Eleven are pursuing degrees in data science and engineering at Batangas State University, while another eleven are studying nursing and education at Saint Louis University in Baguio City. 

Meanwhile, the Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas welcomed five scholars to its international travel and tourism management program, and four more are taking up natural resource conservation and environmental planning at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños. 

“The Philippines has always been a beacon of hope and opportunity, not just for Filipinos, but for those seeking refuge and a fresh start,” CHED Chairperson Popoy De Vera said during the program’s launch on Monday.

Michelle Chen, USAID-Philippines Director of Office of Education, highlighted the program as a “testament to the strength of collaboration between the United States and the Philippines.” 

“This program not only supports emerging young leaders from Myanmar but also showcases the power of partnership in uplifting the region’s youth,” Chen said.

De Vera said another cohort of scholars is expected to arrive next school year through the USAID program.

Last year, four universities – San Beda University, St. Louis University, Tarlac State University, and the University of St. La Salle – joined a different United Nations-backed program providing higher education specifically to Rohingya refugees, who face statelessness and extreme persecution in Myanmar. 

The first batch of Rohingya refugees arrived in the Philippines in 2022.

Myanmar’s crisis

The initiative comes amid Myanmar’s deepening humanitarian crisis following the overthrow of its democratically elected government in February 2021.

The Myanmar junta’s abuses have caused widespread displacement, armed conflicts, and severe restrictions on civil liberties. The United Nations estimates that hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced, while thousands more have fled to neighboring countries. 

But prior to the 2021 coup, the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group in the Buddhist-majority Myanmar, had already faced persecution. In 2015, Myanmar stripped them of citizenship, rendering them stateless. Two years later, a brutal military crackdown forced hundreds of thousands to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

But the Rohingya are not alone in facing persecution. Other ethnic minorities like the Catholic Chin people have also endured military attacks and human rights violations. Members of the Chin ethnic group arrived in the Philippines in 2023 to file crimes against humanity charges against Myanmar’s military junta in Philippine courts.