Tag: Ma Ba Tha

US imposes sanctions on Myanmar for ‘widespread human rights abuses’

August 20, 2018 Myanmar Churches, Human rights, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Minorities, Myanmar, Rakhine, Rohingya, Sanctions, Shan, USA

Since fighting flared up in Kachin state in April thousands of people have fled their homes and, like these women, found refuge in temporary shelters at church compounds in Kachin's capital Myitkyina.(Photo: YE AUNG THU/AFP/Getty Images)

The US government announced on Friday that it had imposed sanctions on Myanmar for “widespread human rights abuses” against Christians, Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities, reports The New York Times. According to the Treasury Department the abuses against Rohingya Muslims in southwestern Rakhine state, forcing more than 700,000 to seek . . . Read More

Myanmar: Peace talks resume but ethnic autonomy not on the agenda

July 12, 2018 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Chin, China, Churches, Human rights, Kachin, Karen, Ma Ba Tha, Minorities, Myanmar, Myitkyina, Panglong, Rakhine, Rohingya, Sanctions, Tatmadaw

Myanmar's defacto leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the 2016 Panglong Conference. (Photo: AUNG HTET/AFP/Getty Images)

A third round of peace talks are taking place in Myanmar this week between armed ethnic groups and government forces, but the military has ruled out discussions on the autonomy that ethnic groups crave. The six-day meeting, which has been dubbed the 21st century ‘Panglong Conference’ after the historic 1947 . . . Read More

Myanmar: Army accused of destroying churches and turning them into Buddhist temples

July 6, 2018 Myanmar Baptists, Buddhist nationalism, Cardinal Bo, Churches, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Rakhine, Refugees, Rohingya

Myanmar’s military has destroyed about 60 churches in the past 18 months and turned a third of them into Buddhist pagodas in northern Kachin state, according to an American pastor who visited the region recently. “In the last 18 months, they have bombed 60 churches. Of the 60 churches they . . . Read More

Myanmar’s Christians hope Pope Francis will speak for them

November 27, 2017 Myanmar Bangladesh, Baptists, Cardinal Bo, Catholics, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Nay Pyi Taw, Pope Francis, Southeast Asia, Yangon

Pope Francis is greeted by a child upon arrival in Yangon, Myanmar, on 27 November. (Photo: Getty Images)

Pope Francis landed in Myanmar today (27 November) to start his six-day visit to Southeast Asia, raising the hopes of Christians there that he will address the issues they face in the majority-Buddhist nation. Among those welcoming the Pontiff in Yangon were more than 7,000 ethnic Kachin from the conflict-torn state . . . Read More

Thai Buddhist calls for action against nationalism

February 17, 2017 Bodu Bala Sena, Buddhist nationalism, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Rohingya, Sri Lanka, Thailand

A Thai Buddhist has called for Buddhist-majority countries like Thailand to halt the rise of nationalism, intolerance and hate speech. “It’s very dangerous, much more dangerous than weapons,” said Sulak Sivaraksa during a recent panel discussion on the Channel NewsAsia programme Between The Lines. As World Watch Monitor reported in . . . Read More

USCIRF says Myanmar must ‘control’ its military

December 21, 2016 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Churches, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Naga, Rape, Torture

A new, critical report on religious freedoms in Myanmar by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom says the major challenge facing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government is “bringing the military under civilian control”. The report says the Burmese Army, which, due to constitutional provisions, is beyond civilian control, has . . . Read More

Myanmar’s Christian population grows to 6.2 per cent

August 3, 2016 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, UN

Tower of a Catholic church next to a Buddhist statue, Myanmar Nov. 2015World Watch Monitor Myanmar’s Christian population has increased dramatically, according to the latest figures in a supplement to the 2014 Population and Housing Census, conducted by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). Christians now make up 6.2 per cent . . . Read More

Freedom of religion among Myanmar’s ‘biggest challenges’

May 26, 2016 Myanmar Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Naga, Religious freedom, Yangon

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Myanmar’s first Catholic Cardinal, at the UK Parliament in London, 25 May, 2016. World Watch Monitor Myanmar’s first ever Catholic Cardinal has said protecting freedom of religion or belief for all is among the “biggest challenges” facing his country as it adapts to life after . . . Read More

Myanmar’s Christians cautiously hopeful

November 12, 2015 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Elections, Kachin, Ma Ba Tha, Myitkyina

In Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy , has won a landslide victory in the first freely-contested election in 25 years, winning the needed two-thirds of the vote to enable it to nominate the country’s new President. Even though she herself is barred from that role, Suu Kyi has . . . Read More

Myanmar regulates interfaith marriage

September 23, 2015 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Karen, Ma Ba Tha, Marriage, Minorities, Myanmar

Myanmar’s President has signed a law requiring interfaith couples to seek permission before they can marry. “Under the law, interfaith couples have to notify the local government and post a public announcement of their intention to marry,” reports Al Jazeera. “They will be allowed to wed if there are no . . . Read More

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