Source: www.worthynews.com
Date: November 18, 2024
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Christians in Myanmar’s Rakhine state face continued persecution by the country’s Buddhist military junta (Tatmadaw), which has proved itself violently hostile to believers and recently imposed new restrictions on church services, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Ruled by the Tatmadaw, which wrested power from the country’s democratic government in a 2021 military coup, Myanmar ranks 17 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
In a new act of repression, Myanmar’s military has ordered the removal of Christian symbols, ICC reports. “Last month, we installed a cross, a symbol of our faith, to identify the Christian church here, but the police came and demanded it be removed,” one congregant told ICC. “We had prayed before putting it up, so we refused to take it down ourselves and instead asked them to remove it.”
The Tatmadaw has also ordered police to take down the names of people attending church services, which themselves must obtain authorization to operate, ICC said.
“Since the military coup in February 2021, Christians have encountered greater violence and tighter restrictions,” ICC noted in its report. “Believers have been killed and churches have been indiscriminately attacked, even well-established ones in predominantly Christian states like Chin and Kayah.”
“More Christians than ever have been driven out of their homes and have found refuge in churches or IDP camps. Some are even forced to flee to the jungle where they are often deprived of access to food and health care,” ICC said.