CHRISTIAN PEOPLE GROUP FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM IN BURMA

Burma's military dictatorship has recently launched a new wave of attacks against predominantly Christian Karenvillages, says Christian Freedom International (CFI).

"In Burma this time of year is known locally as the 'killing season' and this year is no exception," said CFI. "During the dry season soldiers can move more easily in the dense jungles of Burma, and this year the military junta has stepped up its genocidal attacks on the Karen, an ethnic minority in Burma."

The Karen aided the British during World War II, when the Japanese occupied the region. After the war ended, Burma was granted independence in 1948, and the Karen, led by the Karen National Union (KNU), soon became the largest of 20 minority groups participating in an insurgency against the military dictatorship in Yangon. During the 1980s, the KNU fighting force numbered approximately 20,000; in 2006, that number has shrank to less than 4,000, opposing what's grown to a 400,000-member army.

The conflict - the longest running civil war in the world -- continues. Aid agencies estimate that up to 200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes during decades of war, with 120,000 more refugees from Burma, mostly Karen, living in refugee camps on the Thai side of the border.

Many Karen accuse the government of Myanmar of ethnic cleansing. The U.S. State Department has also cited the Burmese government for suppression of religious freedom, a source of particular trouble to the Karen as between thirty and forty percent of them are Christians and among the Burmese religious minority.

Pray for the Karen people. They are still fighting for their freedom and they need to know that they are not forgotten.

Source: Christian Newswire

May 22, 2006