“An invisible war” – this is how San Htoi of Kachin Women’s Association (Thailand) described the targeting of Christians in Burma (Myanmar).(1) Despite a genocidal campaign(2) being waged by the Burmese army against Kachin State’s 1.6 million inhabitants – of whom 90-95 percent are Christian (Roman Catholic or Baptist) – international reports have been slow to acknowledge the Kachin people’s predominantly Christian identity.(3) Kachin Christians have been killed, raped, tortured and used to “clear” landmine-peppered areas.(4) Women and girls have been trafficked as brides to China.(5) 3,000 villages have been burnt to the ground in the past decade6 and over 200 churches destroyed since 2011.(7) The 2017 US Department of State religious freedom report called the plight of the 100,000 displaced Christians living in camps and thousands stranded in jungle terrain, “desperate and unsustainable”,(8) while the UN branded the violence “crimes against humanity”.(9) According to the US Department of State, minority religions in the country, including Christians, saw religious property and texts destroyed. They were also denied permits for religious buildings and renovations. Chin State “blocked Christian groups and churches from buying land in the name of their religious organisations for the purpose of worship”. Christians also experienced discrimination in employment. In Karen State, Christians were issued with identification cards from central government stating they were Buddhist despite specifying that they were “Christians” on their applications. Officials refused to amend the cards.(10)
PHILIPPINES
The killing of 22 Sunday Massgoers and the maiming
