Suffering of Karen Christians Intensified by Recent Coup | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff

Myanmar’s independence from British rule, formalized in 1948, kickstarted decades of change still being felt at every level of society. Progress has come in fits and starts, but before the Burmese Army overthrew the civilian government in February, Myanmar was widely believed to be well on its way to establishing a stable, functioning democracy. These hopes were dashed by the coup, and since then the military, or Tatmadaw, has responded to pro-democracy protests with brutal violence, killing over 700 and jailing thousands.


As concerning as the suppression of pro-democracy protestors is, another conflict dating back to independence continues to worsen. Exacerbated by the Tatmadaw’s newfound control over the central government and its lack of concern for human rights, this conflict between the Tatmadaw and ethnic militias around the country has continued to claim lives. This includes the eastern Kayin State where the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), which campaigns for the self-determination of the Karen people, has waged a decades-long war for independence.

Kayin State, which was known as Karen State for its majority Karen population before the Tatmadaw changed its name, is located on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand. The Karen are ethnically and linguistically diverse. They speak twelve distinct languages and are believed to have settled the Kayin State area before the arrival of the Burmans to modern day Myanmar. Subjected to the rule of various kingdoms throughout their history, the Karen were given some degree of autonomy by the British, who allied militarily with the Karen against the Burman majority, whom the British saw as a threat.

Today, it is estimated that there are about 4 million Karen living in Myanmar, mostly living in Kayin State, though reliable population data is difficult to come by since the Tatmadaw keeps census results a closely-guarded state secret.

Karen was the first ethnic group in Myanmar to accept Christianity when it was introduced to the country in the 1800s by a group of American Baptist missionaries led by Adoniram Judson. Today, it is estimated that 20-30 percent of Karen are Christian, with most of the remainder consisting of Buddhists and animists.

As with the Kachin, Karen Christians face the double threat of both ethnic and religious persecution. The KNLA’s long war against the Tatmadaw has created a state of heightened tensions between the central government and residents of the region that only worsens the condition of Karen Christians.

The Tatmadaw often targets churches and leverage Christian’s minority status against them in their rhetoric and tactics—Christians are a tiny minority in Burma as a whole and make an easy target for the Tatmadaw’s nationalistic rhetoric. But the persecution does not stop at rhetoric—the Tatmadaw uses mass brutality against its enemies and reports of gang rape, public beheadings, and the decimation of entire villages are all too common in the area.

Karen Christians, suffering with little protection from the ravages of the Tatmadaw, often flee to neighboring Thailand for refuge. Even there, they are not safe—reports have surfaced of the Tatmadaw shelling camps of displaced Karen in Thailand, in a brazen violation of both the refugees’ human rights and Thailand’s sovereignty.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said in March that his country would accept refugees from Myanmar, but Sunai Phasuk, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, reported on the same day that Thai authorities had forced over 2,000 Karen refugees back over the border into where the Tatmadaw had recently engaged in bombings of civilian areas.

The February coup only worsens the situation for the Karen. Though limited in its ability to push back against the Tatmadaw, the democratically-elected civilian government was the only real internal check on the Tatmadaw’s campaign against ethnic minorities. Now that it is deposed, little stands in the way of larger-scale ethnic and religious persecution in Kayin State and elsewhere around the country.

https://www.persecution.org/2021/05/12/suffering-karen-christians-intensified-recent-coup/