Tag: Chin

Burmese Christians detained, ordered not to pray in churches

October 17, 2018 Myanmar Chin, Kachin, Myanmar, Shan, UN

A military group in Myanmar has detained ethnic minority Wa and Lahu Christians and ordered them to pledge that they will not pray in churches but only in their homes, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. One hundred Wa Christians, who signed a statement giving a guarantee, have since been released, . . . Read More

‘Being Burmese means being Buddhist’ – pastor explains discrimination faced by Christians in Myanmar

September 17, 2018 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Minorities, Myanmar

The discrimination a Christian can meet on a daily basis in Myanmar is explained by Tun from the Chin ethnic minority. He left his town in Chin state and moved his family to another area to pastor a small group of Christians in a predominantly Buddhist village. His name is . . . Read More

Myanmar: Peace talks for settling conflict with majority-Christian ethnic groups

September 10, 2018 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Minorities, Myanmar, Religious freedom

Myanmar’s Peace Commission has held a meeting in China with the representatives of three ethnic armed groups fighting the Myanmar Armed Forces along the country’s northern border, AsiaNews reports. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army are part of the Northern Alliance, which also . . . Read More

Myanmar: Peace talks resume but ethnic autonomy not on the agenda

July 12, 2018 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Chin, China, Churches, Human rights, Kachin, Karen, Ma Ba Tha, Minorities, Myanmar, Myitkyina, Panglong, Rakhine, Rohingya, Sanctions, Tatmadaw

Myanmar's defacto leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the 2016 Panglong Conference. (Photo: AUNG HTET/AFP/Getty Images)

A third round of peace talks are taking place in Myanmar this week between armed ethnic groups and government forces, but the military has ruled out discussions on the autonomy that ethnic groups crave. The six-day meeting, which has been dubbed the 21st century ‘Panglong Conference’ after the historic 1947 . . . Read More

Myanmar: new peace talks announced during Pope’s visit

November 29, 2017 Myanmar Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Myanmar, Panglong, Pope Francis, Rohingya, Shan

Pope Francis meeting Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit to Myanmar, Nov 2017 (Getty)

The third ‘Panglong Conference’ has been announced by Myanmar’s government during an official visit by Pope Francis, reports Catholic news agency Fides. Tabled for the last week in January, it will be the latest in a series of peace negotiations between armed ethnic groups and government forces. The original Panglong . . . Read More

Myanmar: Kachin Baptists jailed for helping photograph bombed church

October 27, 2017 Myanmar Baptists, Chin, Dumdaw Nawng Lat, Kachin, Langjaw Gam Seng, Myanmar, Shan

Two Kachin Baptist pastors who helped a journalist to photograph a Catholic church, apparently bombed by Myanmar’s army in 2016, have been sentenced to two years in prison, for their alleged support of the Kachin Independence Army. According to advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, which called the verdict a “serious . . . Read More

Myanmar: Pope Francis’ visit could ‘heal wounds of country’

October 24, 2017 Myanmar Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Myanmar, Pope Francis, Shan, Yangon

Myanmar’s Cardinal Bo has said he hopes Pope Francis’ upcoming trip will “help heal the wounds of his country, especially for minorities under attack”. Pope Francis, due to visit Myanmar from 27-30 November, will meet the country’s leader – in all but title – Aung San Suu Kyi. Charles Maung . . . Read More

Myanmar Baptists face eight years in prison for helping journalist to photograph bombed church

July 27, 2017 Myanmar Baptists, Chin, Dumdaw Nawng Lat, Kachin, Langjaw Gam Seng, Myanmar, Shan

Two Kachin Baptist pastors who helped a journalist to photograph a Catholic church bombed by Myanmar’s army face up to eight years in prison, reports the US-based Baptist Standard. Langjaw Gam Seng, 35, and Dumdaw Nawng Lat, 67, went missing on 24 December 2016 during a period of intense armed . . . Read More

Two missing pastors; Myanmar army link suspected

January 19, 2017 Myanmar Baptists, Chin, Kachin, Myanmar, Rape, Shan, Women

International human rights organisations have expressed concern for two pastors missing since 24 December in Myanmar. Ethnic Kachin live in Shan as well as Kachin State, and the two Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) men had taken reporters to a Catholic church damaged by airstrikes in clashes between the government army and . . . Read More

USCIRF says Myanmar must ‘control’ its military

December 21, 2016 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Churches, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Naga, Rape, Torture

A new, critical report on religious freedoms in Myanmar by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom says the major challenge facing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is “bringing the military under civilian control”. The report says the Burmese Army, which, due to constitutional provisions, is beyond civilian control, has . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye