ICC Note: Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is urging the government of Burma to take the initiative in protecting the  human and religious rights of minorities in that nation. There have been a series of numerous discriminatory and hate acts committed against minorities over the past few years, and it is time to put a lot of pressure on the government to protect the people of Burma and make this issue one of highest priority.  

July 5, 2016, Burma, (Christian Solidarity Worldwide): Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), together with over ten other organisations working for human rights in Burma, today calls on the government of Burma to take urgent action to protect vulnerable religious minorities in the country, following two recent violent attacks on Muslims.

On 1 July, a mosque was destroyed by a mob in Hpakant township in Kachin State. On 23 June, a mob destroyed a mosque, a school and homes in a village in Waw township, Bago Division in central Burma. According to reports, security forces failed to prevent these attacks, and the government failed to respond to calls for action.

These attacks are the latest in an anti-Muslim campaign of hatred led by militant Buddhist nationalists over the past four years, and which has included violent attacks, hate speech and the introduction of discriminatory legislation that restricts religious conversions and inter-faith marriage.

In November 2015, just after the election which was overwhelmingly won by her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Burma’s State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told the BBC that “hatred has no place” in the country and that her government would protect minorities and bring to justice those who incite hatred or violence. However, according to reports three members of the NLD participated in the attack in Bago Division.

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