Youths exercise at a camp for internally displaced people in Demoso in Myanmar’s Kayah state. Civilians in Kayah state have sought the safety of rural IDP camps as fighting continues between rebel groups and the military. (Photo: AFP)
Dec 17 2021
The sounds of gunfire, fighter jets and heavy weapons have replaced the sounds of carols in the war-torn country
In Myanmar’s ethnic regions where Christians predominate, the sounds of gunfire, fighter jets and heavy weapons have replaced the sounds of carols.
Instead of carrying out preparations for Christmas, thousands of people have to spend their time in the jungle and makeshift camps after fleeing their homes as a result of the military’s scorched-earth campaign in ethnic regions.
Several churches belonging to Catholics, Baptists and other denominations in the Christian strongholds of Chin state in the west and Kayah state in the east have been bombed and destroyed in deliberate attacks by junta forces.
The escalation in fighting between the military and ethnic groups and local militia groups known as people’s defense forces (PDFs) has led to thousands of people including priests, nuns and parishioners having to abandon churches and flee to safe areas.
Several parishes in Loikaw Diocese, which covers Kayah state, Pekhon Diocese in southern Shan state and Hakha and Kalay dioceses, which cover Chin state, have been abandoned due to intensifying fighting over the past six months.
The four dioceses of Hakha, Kalay, Loikaw and Pekhon out of the 16 dioceses in the conflict-torn nation have been badly hit following February’s military coup that triggered peaceful demonstrations and a growing resistance with the newly emerged militia groups.
Fear, anxiety and trauma grip thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have to stay in camps largely dependent on aid from churches, the United Nations and NGOs.
In the wake of growing numbers of fleeing civilians amid the military’s reign of terror, churches in Chin state — where 90 percent of the population are Christian — have called on the faithful not to celebrate Christmas and avoid carol singing and other celebrations to show solidarity with suffering people.
Catholic bishops in several dioceses including Mandalay, Pathein and Pyay have also urged the faithful to carry out charity work and make spiritual preparations this festive season.
For Christians in Chin and Kayah states, where there is strong resistance to the military as a result of the army’s reign of terror, it’s the first time with no Christmas and New Year events.
Fear, anxiety and trauma grip thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have to stay in camps largely dependent on aid from churches, the United Nations and NGOs.
Aid for IDPs remains a barrier for aid groups due to the military’s tight restrictions, roadblocks and volatile security situation. Several aid workers, including seven from Caritas Myanmar, were arrested while they were on a mission to provide aid for IDPs in Kayah state in late October.
Christ the King Cathedral in Loikaw, capital of Kayah state, was raided by some 200 soldiers and the church-run clinic, the bishop’s house and clergy house were searched and 18 doctors and nurses arrested on Nov. 22.
The clinic, which has been providing vital health care for people from different ethnic groups and religions for more than two decades, has been suspended and the patients were forced to move to the state-run hospital.
Rights groups have accused the military of committing crimes against humanity as they refuse to let aid groups send humanitarian assistance to IDPs while rights abuses by the military have worsened.
More than 200,000 people have been displaced in Kachin, Kayah, Chin, Karen and Shan states following the escalation in fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups and PDFs since March.
This Christmas marks a very special yearning of hope that all of us can live in peace
The rising conflict, particularly in predominantly Christian regions inhabited by the Kayah, Chin and Kachin, has resulted in churches being shelled and raided. Priests and pastors have been arrested while many unarmed civilians, including Christians, have been killed.
In northern Kachin state, Christians used to hear gunfire and air strikes, especially after fighting resumed between the military and the Kachin Independence Army.
Renewed fighting erupted in 2011 following the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire and more than 120,000 people have remained in camps in Kachin and Shan states.
Christians have borne the brunt of the decades-old civil war and faced oppression and persecution at the hands of the military which ruled for more than five decades.
“This Christmas marks a very special yearning of hope that all of us can live in peace. We hope all those in prison can return home, all those in IDP camps can return home, all those in hiding can freely walk, all those wounded can be healed, all broken families reunited and all guns fall silent,” Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon said in his Advent message of peace on Dec. 10.
More than 1,300 people have been killed, including at least 50 children, and over 10,000 people have been arrested since the coup. -Vatican News
