Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 689 | Wed 12 Apr 2023
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BURMA (MYANMAR): TERROR UNLEASHED ON CHRISTIAN KAREN
plus update: Kachin Baptist Leader Sentenced
By Elizabeth Kendal
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| Black circles in Karen State: (north) Hpapun; (south) Myawaddy |
The Karen are one of Burma’s largest ethnic minority nations. Whilst the majority of Karen are Buddhist, up to 30 percent are Christian, the legacy of American Baptist pioneer missionaries. The Christian Karen are found mostly among the hill tribes in the country’s east. Under British rule, the Christian Karen embraced literacy and education, leading to their advancement. In 1947 – one year before independence – the Karen established the Karen National Union (KNU) to campaign for Karen self-determination. In 1949 – one year after independence – civil war erupted. The KNU’s armed wing is known as the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). In 1994, Karen Buddhists broke away from the KNU-KNLA and established the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). In a pact of mutual support, the junta agreed to arm, fund, and ultimately empower the Karen Buddhists in exchange for their support in crushing the Christian-led KNU-KNLA. In 2009, the junta also established an ethnic Border Guard Force (BGF) in each ethnic state comprised of locals who agreed to fight their ethnic brethren in exchange for rewards from the junta. Each BGF is under the command of the Burmese military. In February 2021, when the Burmese people arose in protest against General Min Aung Hlaing’s military coup, the KNU-KNLA stepped up in support of the ‘revolution’. Like the Christian Kachin and the Christian Chin, the Christian Karen have provided sanctuary to imperilled dissidents – often facilitating their escape – and military support to the National Unity Government’s People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) [see RLPB 590 (24 Mar 2021)].
On Monday 27 March 2023 junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing delivered a speech at the 78th annual Myanmar Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw. With a backdrop of fighter jets, helicopters, missiles and artillery, Burma’s illegitimate ruler labelled all resistance fighters as ‘terrorists’ with whom the junta would not negotiate, vowing instead to ‘annihilate them to an end’.
On Tuesday 28 March KNLA forces captured and torched the junta’s Mal Khar Hta military outpost in strategic and war-ravaged Hpapun district. According to KNLA sources, the junta used the base – which is located on the east bank of the Salween River, close to the Thai border – ‘to distribute rations, ammunition and reinforcements to nearby regime outposts’. The battle for the Mal Khar Hta military outpost cost the junta 92 soldiers, while a further 45 were injured. Meanwhile, the KNLA lost 4 soldiers, with a further 14 injured. Humiliated and furious, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing responded by sacking his chief military commander in Karen State.
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| Fleeing Myawaddy, across the Moei River, 5 April 2023 |
On Wednesday 5 April KNLA and PDF fighters launched an attack on the junta’s Border Guard Force (BGF) in Myawaddy Township’s Shew Kokko, a brand-new junta-built ‘economic zone’ close to the Thai border on the ‘Great Asian Highway’, which connects Burma to Bangkok. Fierce fighting escalated through Good Friday, and by Easter Sunday 9 April some 10,000 civilians had fled across the border into Thailand’s north-western Tak Province. As the BBC reports, ‘It is one of the largest cross-border movements of people since a military coup two years ago.’ According to numerous civil society groups, ‘Shwe Kokko has emerged as an epicentre for human traffickers who are taking advantage of the conflict – and the lack of police enforcement – enabling them to operate “slave compounds” with impunity.’ Identified as a ‘crime hub’ by the local Karen, Shwe Kokko – which is dominated by a Chinese-run casino – is controlled and protected by the junta’s BGF. Those fleeing are a mix of Chinese, Burmese and local Karen (mostly Christian). While the Chinese are taking taxis to Bangkok, the local Karen – once they cross the Moei River into Thailand’s Mae Sot district – are being housed in ‘schools, monasteries and rubber farms’. Local Christians and Buddhists, along with various aid groups – including Free Burma Rangers – are providing humanitarian aid.
On 10 April The Irrawaddy reported that ‘junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has approved a military budget of more than 5.6 trillion kyats (around US$2.7 billion) for the 2023-24 fiscal year, which begins this month, up from 3.7 trillion kyats last year’. We should expect to see massive retaliation from this genocidal junta against the Christian Karen in coming days, weeks, and months: more troops, more artillery, more helicopter gunships, more airstrikes. Lord have mercy!
PLEASE PRAY THAT
* Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd will guide the fleeing Christian Karen to safety, provide the refugees with all their needs, and bless their land with lasting peace.
* Yahweh Sabaoth – the Lord of Hosts (the commander of God’s heavenly forces) – will fight for his people against all who seek to harm them through repression, persecution, military violence and enslavement. May the Lord deliver his people from evil.
* our great God – ‘who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…’ (from Ephesians 3:20,21 ESV) – will bring down this wicked junta and graciously bless Burma with peace and liberty.
Prayer for Burma: Psalm 10
SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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BURMA (MYANMAR): TERROR UNLEASHED ON CHRISTIAN KAREN
The Karen are one of Burma’s largest ethnic minority nations. Whilst the majority of Karen are Buddhist, up to 30 percent are Christian; they are mostly found among the hill tribes in the country’s east. Christians have long headed the Karen National Union and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army. Since 1994, a Karen Buddhist army has supported the junta in exchange for rewards and promises of Buddhist empowerment. Like the Christian Kachin and Chin, in February 2021 the Christian Karen chose to support the ‘revolution’ against General Min Aung Hlaing’s military coup. On 27 March Min Aung Hlaing labelled all resistance fighters as ‘terrorists’ and vowed to ‘annihilate them to an end’. Fierce fighting over Easter drove thousands of mostly Christian Karen over the border into Thailand. Please pray.
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UPDATE: KACHIN BAPTIST LEADER SENTENCED
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| Rev Dr Hkalam Samson (Facebook 2019) |
On Good Friday, 7 April, the junta sentenced Rev. Dr Hkalam Samson (65) – an internationally renowned Kachin Baptist leader, humanitarian and peace advocate – to six years in prison. Dr Samson was arrested on Sunday 4 December 2022 at Mandalay International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Bangkok where he was to receive medical treatment [RLPB 675 (14 Dec 2022)]. After interrogation, he was transported back to Myitkyina, the Kachin capital, and detained in Myitkyina prison. Sighting videos where Samson was seen preaching to and praying with people aligned with the National Unity Government (NUG), the junta charged him with ‘terrorism, unlawful association, and inciting opposition’. It is nothing but politically motivated persecution of an influential Christian leader.
In an interview with The New York Times (7 April), ‘Ms. Zung Nyaw said her husband was subjected to harsh interrogation that lasted for 24 days after his arrest. She described him as a man who is more interested in the common good than his own affairs. “He is a man who knows God and loves God,” she said. “He is a preacher, so he has no enemies. He is a person who sacrifices himself and helps others.” Ms. Dau Nan, the attorney, said she would appeal but was not optimistic.’ Please pray.
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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate for the persecuted Church. The Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) is a donor funded ministry. To support this ministry visit www.ElizabethKendal.com
Elizabeth has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016). She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.
For more information see www.ElizabethKendal.com