Myanmar — historically known as Burma — is “a disintegrating nation” where leaders of religious minorities continue to be targeted by the military, a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom stated.
“In 2024, the escalating conflict in Burma continued to negatively affect conditions for freedom of religion or belief,” an update from the commission released Oct. 31 stated.
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“Since the February 2021 coup, the Burmese military and its State Administration Council (SAC) have pursued an aggressive military campaign to maintain authority, which has included targeting religious leaders, communities, and sites and has exacerbated social tensions between ethnoreligious communities.”
More than 3 million people displaced
Because of the violence in Myanmar, more than 3 million people continue to be internally displaced within the nation’s border or living as refugees away from their homeland, the update noted.
In March, independent experts assessed the Burmese military and its State Administration Council lacked stable control of 86% of Myanmar’s territory and 67% of the population. In the months that followed, it continued to lose ground, the commission update reported.
In the past year, resistance groups — including ethnic armed organizations — consolidated control in some regions, including border crossings, the commission update noted.
“The instability in the Kachin State has heightened vulnerabilities for Christian minority communities and members of the Buddhist majority in the region whose communities, houses of worship, and religious leaders the Burmese military may target for their support of the resistance,” the report stated.
Leaders of religious and ethnic minorities targeted
The commission update also points to examples of the Burmese military targeting the leaders of ethnoreligious minorities, such as Hkalam Samson, former president and general secretary of the Kachin Baptist Convention.
In April, he was released briefly after 16 months in prison but was then taken into custody again for questioning. Samson eventually was released from detention in July.
The report also noted the violent death in March of Nammye Hkun Jaw Li, a Baptist minister in Kachin State’s Magaung township, as well as the shooting of a Catholic priest while he was conducting Mass in Mohnyin village.
The military has targeted churches and other religious sites, including both a Baptist church and a Catholic church in mid-May in Tonzang Township in Chin State, the commission update reported.
Tera Kouba, minister of international/Asian ministries at First Baptist Church in San Antonio, confirmed the targeting of religious institutions.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Ken Camp and originally published by Baptist Standard.
