Utter Horror: Churches Burned, Bombed in Latest Round of Ethnic Cleansing
The Burmese military has again turned its violent angst against ethnic minorities targeting Kachin Christians in Northern Burma, burning and bombing their churches and destroying their livelihoods. These attacks have already damaged homes and injured children. In the past week’s attacks have escalated following the same pattern of ethnic cleansing they have used to eradicate the Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine State of Burma. (Burma is a Buddhist country.)
“Attacks on Christians in Burma are rising, with the Burmese military’s track record genocide on their own people. Christians may be forced out of the country like the nearly 1 million Rohingyas now in refugee camps in Bangladesh. If a Christian church plays music too loudly, the military encourages local citizens to join them in beating the Christians. Women and children being hurt in the bombings and attacks. We must do something for our brothers and sisters in Burma. The Burmese military cannot be allowed to continue these horrific acts of violence on their own people,” says Bob Roberts, founding pastor of Northwood Church in Keller, Texas, and member of the Faith Coalition to Stop Genocide in Burma.
The Faith Coalition is calling on the U.S. government to engage in sanctions against the Burmese government and its military thugs. Since August 2017 more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Burma due to persecution by the Burmese military. For years, the Rohingyas have suffered torture, rape and murder at the hands of the Burmese government.
“I witnessed first-hand the horrific conditions of the Rohingya, spoke to the numerous women who had been raped by the Burmese military. This cannot be allowed to happen to Christians in the country. The religious community and the U.S. government must wake up and help protect the least of these who are facing this terrible persecution” stated Nicolee Ambrose, Spokesperson for the Faith Coalition to Stop Genocide in Burma.
The Faith Coalition to Stop Genocide in Burma, is a united group of American faith leaders from diverse religious backgrounds who have come together out of a deep concern for the suffering of the indigenous Rohingya of Burma/Myanmar who face the risk of genocide and annihilation at the hands of the Burmese military.
