RUTHFULLY YOURS

Some teachers protect themselves by carrying guns and in some cases are provided bullets free of charge by local authorities in Thailand’s restive south, Human Rights Watch said in a 111-page report on how the insurgency by Muslims who apparently want their own state affects schools.

The New York-based group called on the Thai government to prohibit the military from occupying school grounds, saying that sending troops into schools creates an “immense disruption” to children’s education and can put students in danger.

The Muslim insurgency that flared in 2004 has left at least 4,200 people dead in Thailand’s southernmost provinces. The three provinces affected by the insurgency _ Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat _ are the only Muslim-majority areas in the predominantly Buddhist country.

The violence has resulted in 327 arson attacks on government schools and left at least 135 teachers and school workers dead, the report said.

“The insurgents’ practice of shooting teachers and burning schools shows incredible depravity,” said Bede Sheppard, the group’s senior Asia researcher for children’s rights. “It’s cruel and immoral and robs children of their education and their future.”

Public school teachers are viewed by insurgents as government collaborators who impose Buddhist culture through the school system. They are targeted along with soldiers, civil servants and local officials.

The southern insurgents have made no public pronouncements, but are thought to be fighting for an independent Muslim state. Their attacks _ which include drive-by shootings and bombings _ are believed intended to frighten Buddhist residents into leaving the southern provinces.

“Being a teacher in southern Thailand really means putting your life on the line and (on) the frontlines of the conflict,” Sheppard said.

Students interviewed by the group’s researchers expressed fear that “the presence of security forces would invite an attack by the insurgents and there would be students or the teachers caught in the middle,” Sheppard said.

Teachers are provided military escorts to and from school, but an attack earlier this month prompted teachers to request round-the-clock security. On Sept. 7 a husband and wife, both teachers, were shot and killed in Narathiwat province during an early morning ride to a market, becoming the latest victims of educating children in the danger zone.

The deaths prompted several schools in the province to shut for several days.

Other disruptions to students’ lives and education occur when schools are burnt down and children are required to study in tents that become stifling hot in the tropical heat, Sheppard said.

Apart from targeted assassinations, teachers have also been harassed through the use of pamphlets, anonymous telephone calls and, in one incident, the placing of a bounty on one teacher’s head, Sheppard said.