SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The University of Notre Dame says it has suspended spring 2020 programming at three Hong Kong universities because escalating violence in the territory poses an unacceptable risk to the 14 students who were slated to attend classes there.

Michael Pippenger, Notre Dame’s vice president and associate provost for internationalization, said Wednesday that “student safety must be paramount” and the university is working with the affected students to find alternative programming in other countries.

More than 5,000 people have been arrested since the Hong Kong protests started in June and have since swelled into an anti-China movement as many fear a loss of freedoms guaranteed to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese control in 1997.