Seven arrested in Myanmar for notarising NUG-issued medical credentials

Myanmar’s military junta announced on Monday that it has arrested seven individuals, including three foreign ministry officials, in connection with a case involving medical documents issued by the National Unity Government (NUG).The arrests were made after it was learned that Dr. Kay Zin Htun, who graduated from Mandalay Medical University in 2020, had used a certificate issued by the NUG’s Interim University Council of the University of Medicine (Mandalay) to apply to study in Dubai.According to state media reports, regime authorities learned of the matter after officials in Dubai contacted them to verify the applicant’s degree.In addition to blacklisting Kay Zin Htun, the junta has also taken action against three foreign ministry officials and four others who notarised the NUG-issued certificate, the reports said.Among those arrested were Aung Kyaw Moe, deputy director of the notary section of the foreign ministry’s consular and legal affairs department in Yangon, and Naing Naing Latt and Maung Maung Chit San Oo, who also work in the same office.The others named in the case are Hla Win, Zar Ni Lwin, Aye Thidar, and Ei Lae Lae Htun, who were all identified as public notaries.After Myanmar’s military seized power in February 2021, many medical professionals joined public employees across the country in boycotting the newly installed regime as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the coup.In response, the junta has been targeting CDM healthcare workers, instructing private hospitals to refrain from hiring doctors who refuse to work in hospitals or clinics operated by the regime.In addition, the regime has also reportedly blacklisted around 800 doctors nationwide, revoking their licenses to practice medicine in Myanmar and barring them from going abroad to work or study.Medical students have also been prevented from pursuing further studies overseas, under an order issued by the junta’s health minister, Dr. Thet Khaing Win, and the director-general of the department of human resources for health, Dr. Tin Tun, according to Myanmar Now’s sources.However, some have been able to pursue their studies at international institutions with medical degrees issued by the NUG, which the regime has designated as terrorist organisation.While this has helped some, the NUG should do more to assist healthcare workers seeking to further their education abroad, according to a doctor who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity.“Given that we can’t expect anything from the junta, I think the NUG’s Ministry of Health should make more of an effort than it is at the moment. We want to continue our studies, but not here,” he said.On March 6, Dr. Khin Maung Lwin, rector of the Interim University Council of the University of Medicine (Mandalay), announced on his Facebook page that many doctors have already received degree certificates from the ministry.He said these certificates have helped many to find work of continue their postgraduate studies abroad.In November of last year, the junta blacklisted two Myanmar students who had tried to matriculate at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand using NUG-issued medical degrees.Calling the certificates counterfeit, regime authorities said they had also detained and imprisoned the notaries who helped prepare them.

Seven arrested in Myanmar for notarising NUG-issued medical credentials

The arrests are part of an ongoing crackdown targeting healthcare professionals boycotting the country’s military junta

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