ICC Note:

Myanmar has blocked aid from reaching Christian refugees in Kachin state. The people fled their homes after the government began targeting villages and churches in Kachin state. Although local authorities had approved the aid, the military turned them away saying they also needed to seek permission from state governments as well. Myanmar’s strong Buddhist government regularly persecutes religious minorities. The predominantly Christian Kachin group have been the victims of decades of conflict between separatist groups and Myanmar’s military.

3/22/2017 Myanmar (UCA News) – After a green light from local authorities, a U.N. team left the southern Kachin state town of Banmaw recently to provide clothes to internally displaced people living in makeshift camps near the Myanmar-China border.

But their route was later blocked by the military who demanded to see permission from the state. The nod from the township was not enough. They needed higher-level authority. The internal refugees did not get their clothes that day.

Commenting on the incident, Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam of Banmaw said: “You can imagine the struggle to provide a humanitarian response to the people in the camps when even the U.N. is denied access.”

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