ICC Note:

More than 2,000 people have taken refuge in churches and monasteries in the most recent spate of violence by government forces against the predominantly Christian Kachin ethnic group. China reported that about 3,000 people had spilled across its borders fleeing the violence. The Kachin ethnic group has fought a decades-long battle for greater autonomy. Myanmar’s military response, however, has often involved targeted violence against Christian leaders and church members including executions and torture. The government’s response to the Muslim Rohingya has been no less brutal. Many expected Myanmar to change its stance toward religious minorities under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. If anything, however, 2016 has seen a ramping up of military offensives against minorities creating tens of thousands of refugees along Myanmar’s borders and threatening the existence of religious freedom.

11/23/2016 Myanmar (UCA News) – Church groups are helping those affected by recent fighting between government forces and ethnic groups in Myanmar’s northern Shan State.

Coordinated attacks by ethnic armed groups targeted military checkpoints, police outposts and a trade center near the state’s Chinese border on Nov. 20. At least nine people died and 29 others injured while more than 2,000 have taken refuge in churches and monasteries according to state media Nov. 22.

Church groups in the town of Muse bordering China are sheltering some 250 people, mostly Kachins and Burmese, in a Catholic and two Baptist churches.

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