Myanmar: Cardinal protests at army brutality in Kachin State

Peace walk in Kachin capital, May 2018

Source: UCAN/Columbans

Myanmar's army is brutally persecuting Kachin people, who are predominantly Christian, as well as Rohingya Muslims, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon has said.

Speaking at a peace forum in South Korea, Cardinal Bo said the suffering the Rohingya have endured has captured the world's attention and described their plight as an "appalling scar on the conscience of my country." But other targeted groups are being overlooked as ethnic fighting rages on in northern Myanmar, with thousands of ethnic minorities having been injured, killed and displaced, he said.

"Villages bombed and burned, women raped, churches destroyed, villagers used as human minesweepers and human shields," Cardinal Bo told peace experts at the Korean Peninsula peace-sharing forum 2018 at the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul on 1st September.

In his speech, Cardinal Bo described military air strikes in Kachin in February and a major offensive in April that led to more than 7,000 people being displaced. He said a series of "wars" were being raged in Myanmar against those who espouse religious freedom by forces preaching religious intolerance and hatred.

The Cardinal also voiced his concerns about a number of other issues in Myanmar: violent conflicts over land ownership, human trafficking, environmental degradation, drug abuse by young people, poverty and a lack of protection of basic rights.

"These 'wars' continue even though Myanmar has moved over the past eight years through a series of reforms and made a fragile transition from a military dictatorship to a fragile democracy," said the 69-year-old prelate.

Fighting has broken out sporadically in the Christian stronghold of Kachin State since the country then known as Burma broke free of its colonial shackles in 1948 by gaining independence from British rule.

The situation deteriorated in 2011 when some 100,000 people were displaced. Most of the state's 1.7 million Kachins are Christians, including 116,000 Catholics.

Cardinal Bo said the military retains supreme power, especially in its control of three key ministries, while the civilian government has little or no effective control over its activities. This, combined with rising Buddhist nationalism and militancy, has created a dangerous cocktail of hatred and repression that denies ethnic and religious minorities the "peace and human dignity" they deserve, he said.

Video shows a Kachin peace procession in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State, on 28 May, led by Bishop Francis Daw Tang. It is estimated 10,000 Catholics took part. See:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VQlX22SexDeXm9OiCI6kAeU1jdHP49rA/view