Wounded Myanmar

Msgr Celso Ba Shwe - Bishop of Loikaw - took part in the celebration that every year on the third Sunday of November recalls the bond of solidarity between Japanese Catholics and the Church in former Burma, now wounded by war. Support for schools in the forest through the Seeds of Hope initiative. Archbishop Kikuchi: ‘Hope is born from the heart of those who walk together’.

Forced to abandon the cathedral in November 2023 due to fighting, the bishop of Loikaw continues to care for the faithful of his diocese, now scattered in 200 refugee camps in remote areas. Speaking to AsiaNews, he talked about the tragedy of young people fighting and reflects on how these communities in Kayah State, despite their great difficulties, today remind him of the first Christians. For him, the Church is where people share and love each other.

The increasing conquests by the Brotherhood Alliance, composed of three powerful ethnic militias, are highlighting the difficulties of administering different territories. A challenge that could explain the difficulties in taking control of even the largest cities in Myanmar. The involvement of China is also emerging with increasing clarity.

Seven years after the great flight of hundreds of thousands of members of the Muslim minority from Myanmar, the situation in Bangladesh's reception centres is still an emergency. The account of a Jesuit, who has been involved in aid and shelter work for years. Dhaka has limited resources, but we need stability and peace in former Burma before repatriating them.

Arbitrary arrests, humiliating body searches, and denied pre- or post-natal care are the focus of a briefing paper by the International Commission of Jurists, a Geneva-based NGO, with testimonies and complaints from members of a group "targeted" by the military three years since the coup. More than 1,500 women are languishing in Myanmar prisons for political reasons.

Fighting has resumed in Shan and Rakhine in recent weeks. The junta’s number two man, General Soe Win, and former president Thein Sein visited Beijing and Qingdao to discuss border stability, trade, and investment. According to some sources, new contracts have also been signed for the purchase of war materiel.

Kim Aris, 47, has accepted on his mother’s behalf the honorary citizenship awarded to her by the town of Abbiategrasso (Italy). Her family does not know where the 79-year-old is being detained nor her health conditions. According to her son, the international community did not understand Aung San Suu Kyi's actions with the Rohingya.

Despite the Internet blockade imposed by the military junta, the United Nations has received “frightening and disturbing reports" of attacks against Rohingya civilians. Increasingly in difficulty on the ground, the junta is fuelling inter-ethnic tensions, enlisting (even forcibly) Rohingya to fight the local ethnic militia. The country is thus reverting to sectarian violence.

Two unidentified men stormed the church at 6 am and fired at least five shots, local sources report. Fr Paul Khwi Shane Aung, 40, was admitted to hospital in Moe Nyin, Kachin State, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Sister Regina, of the Sisters of Repair, offers her testimony. “Without humanitarian aid, children and the elderly are suffering in the forests because the roads are blocked by the military. Conscription is used to provide human shields to force the rebels to kill their own countrymen. Our sisters remain close to the people, walking with them, even in tears, amid the dangers and the pain.”

According to the ethnic armies that launched the offensive on the border region, the business is worth US$ 14 billion annually, controlled by four Chinese clans together with Myanmar’s military. China recently asked the ruling junta to shut down call centres where about 100,000 people are allegedly held in conditions of modern slavery.

A month after Operation 1111 began, ethnic militias reportedly overwhelm junta forces, and are now close to complete control of the state capital, Loikaw, and Moebye, a strategically important township. Meanwhile, the civilian death toll continues to rise: At least 82 have been killed since the start of the offensive.