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BURMA (MYANMAR): CHRISTIANS AT RISK OF POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE;

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Burma's ruling military junta ruthlessly promotes ethnic (Burman) and religious (Buddhist) supremacy and nationalism while repressing, even violently crushing, all political opposition.

The ethnic minority peoples who live in the hills around Burma's periphery are mostly Christian and are persecuted by the junta on ethnic, religious and political grounds. Because of their immense suffering, these groups do not trust the regime and are seeking autonomy. Ethnic minority groups, including those who have signed cease-fire agreements with the junta, consequently are unwilling to have their defence forces disarmed and absorbed into a national Border Guard Force (BGF). These groups include the Kachin in the north, of whom some 90 percent are devout Christians.

They are simply unwilling to entrust their security to a centrally- controlled force dominated by the same Burmese soldiers who have spent decades indiscriminately enslaving, raping, torturing and massacring their people.

Shrewdly the regime has made disarmament a condition of participation in the Sunday 7 November elections. While this sounds reasonable, it is actually a strategy by which reasonable fears are exploited to disenfranchise numerous ethnic minority voters. However, that will not make much difference, as one quarter of all seats are reserved for appointed military personnel anyway, and the main Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP: a front for the ruling junta) is fielding more than three times as many candidates as all 35 opposition parties combined.

Thus the election result -- a convincing win to the junta -- is a foregone conclusion.

The sole purpose of the exercise is to 'legitimise' the regime so it can claim a 'mandate' to forcibly subjugate the ethnic-religious minorities.

Recently the regime falsely and provocatively labelled the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) as 'insurgents'. This is pure propaganda as the KIA maintains a cease-fire agreement with the regime. Reportedly the junta has just purchased some 50 Mi-24 combat-ready helicopters and 12 Mi-2 armoured transport helicopters from Russia which they have positioned in readiness in the northern and central regions of the state. According to one Kachin church leader, 'After the election process, we ethnic minorities can be crushed.'

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL:

* fix the eyes of Burma's long-suffering minority Christians onto Jesus
(Hebrews 12:2,3) and draw the Church into prayer. 'I lift up my eyes to
the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.' (Psalm 121:1,2 ESV)

* intervene in Burma to deliver his Church from evil.

'O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more'
Psalm 10:17,18 ESV.

(See http://idop.org/pages/resources/devotional.php
IDOP: International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church - 14 Nov 2010)

 

Elizabeth Kendall