Prominent Baptist pastor in military-ruled Myanmar detained again hours after release from prison
Bangkok, Thailand AP A prominent Christian church leader and human rights advocate from Myanmar’s Kachin ethnic minority was detained by the authorities just hours after he was released from prison under an amnesty by the military government, a relative, a colleague and local media said Thursday. Rev Hkalam Samson, former head of the Kachin Baptist Convention and […]
Women, children among 29 killed as artillery hits Myanmar refugee camp – media, sources
Reuters An artillery strike that hit a refugee camp near Myanmar’s border with China has killed at least 29 people, including women and children, media and sources said on Tuesday, in one of the deadliest attacks on civilians since the return of military rule. The shelling took place close to midnight on Monday in Kachin […]
Myanmar rescuers recover 22 bodies after a deadly landslide
Reuters Rescue teams in northern Myanmar have found 22 bodies following a huge landslide at the weekend near a jade mine, a rescue worker and a local journalist said on Tuesday. There were 42 people declared missing, many of them scavengers searching for small pieces of jade, according to Tar Lin Maung, a local journalist. […]
Gospel for Asia calls for “compassionate prayer” over Myanmar jade mine disaster
Mission organisation Gospel for Asia has called for “compassionate prayer” after more than 160 people were killed in a mudslide at a jade mine in Myanmar earlier this month. The mudslide on 2nd July in the Hpakant area of Kachin state was triggered by heavy rains in the region and buried workers and those looking for […]
Bible students in Myanmar “suffering health and psychological problems” after escaping armed group
World Watch Monitor Seventeen of the 41 Bible students forcibly recruited by an ethnic minority army in Myanmar’s northern Shan state in September have escaped, according to Catholic news site UCAN. The students arrived in groups of two or three at the Lahu Baptist Church in Kyaing Tong town, eastern Shan state, in the last two weeks, having fled […]
Churches destroyed, priests questioned in Myanmar’s Shan state
World Watch Monitor An ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Shan state is destroying churches and holding clergymen for questioning, reports Radio Free Asia. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), reportedly issued a statement on Facebook on 6th September, declaring that all churches built after 1989 (when […]
US imposes sanctions on Myanmar for “widespread human rights abuses”
World Watch Monitor The US government announced on Friday that it had imposed sanctions on Myanmar for “widespread human rights abuses” against Christians, Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities, reports The New York Times. According to the Treasury Department the abuses against Rohingya Muslims in south-western Rakhine state, forcing more than 700,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring […]
Myanmar’s army accused of destroying churches and turning them into Buddhist temples
World Watch Monitor Myanmar’s military has destroyed about 60 churches in the past 18 months and turned a third of them into Buddhist pagodas in northern Kachin state, according to an American pastor who visited the region recently. “In the last 18 months, they have bombed 60 churches. Of the 60 churches they have bombed, […]
Myanmar: “400 villages destroyed, 150,000 people displaced” in Kachin
World Watch Monitor More than 400 villages have been damaged or destroyed and 150,000 people displaced since the collapse of a ceasefire in 2011 between Myanmar’s army and rebels in northern Kachin state, reports Catholic website AsiaNews. In 2018 alone, 50 villages were abandoned and more than 7,000 people fled their homes, seeking refuge in local churches, […]
Release International calls for international community to take action after reports of a renewed offensive against the Kachin people in Myanmar
Release International has called for the international community to act to restrain the military in Myanmar following reports of a renewed offensive against the Christian Kachin people which has displaced thousands of people. In a statement issued on Tuesday, representatives of the UK-based persecuted church support organisation said they fear Christians could face a repeat […]