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WCC delegation expresses concern over treatment of Christians in Myanmar
Episcopal News Service
Issue:
Section:
2003-052-4
Posted: Friday, March 07, 2003
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A delegation from the World Council of Churches met with leaders of the military government in Myanmar (formerly Burma) to express concern over the treatment of the Christian minority in the predominantly Buddhist nation.
General Khin Nyunt assured the delegation that Christians 'will not be discriminated against.' WCC General Secretary Konrad Raiser told the general and other government leaders that the country's Christian minority and other ethnic groups were facing 'intentional or involuntary discrimination' in some parts of the country. The general acknowledged that they 'may have been targets in action by the government to suppress rebel groups,' but he contended that 'such incidents should not be construed as deliberate discrimination.'
Christians comprise only six percent of the country's 52 million people, and are often part of ethnic minority groups in remote areas. Some Christians have been engaged in armed struggle against the domination of the Burmese Buddhist majority and against attempts to force Christians to renounce their faith or surrender church property.
Raiser and the delegation were welcomed to the headquarters of the Myanmar Council of Churches by the Rev. Smith N Za Thawng, who described the visit as 'historic' since Myanmar churches have been cut off from the outside world for decades. The country has been closed to outsiders since the military takeover in 1962. Massive protests for the restoration of democracy were crushed in 1988.
Earlier, the delegation visited Laos, where they were told that Christianity in the communist-controlled nation was growing 'despite heavy odds.' The Rev. Khamphone Kouthapanya, executive president of the Lao Evangelical Church, said that 'this growth of believers has been happening since the mid-1990s without any assistance from overseas missionaries, and in the midst of lots of restrictions by local authorities of the Communist Party-led government.' Only two percent of the five million people in the country are Christians, while 60 percent are Buddhists and 30 percent animists.
Christianity was brought to Laos by Swiss missionaries in 1902, but banned after communists seized power in 1975. The membership of the Lao Evangelical Church fell to 10,000 in the aftermath of the war. Church leaders said that the membership has grown to 100,000 in 400 congregations following easing of restrictions on religious freedom in the last decade. Noting the improvement in the relationship, Raiser said, 'What we see now is a church that is thriving, striving and self-confident and a church that fully shares the aspirations of the country.'
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