Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Myitkyina (Fides Service) - "The civil war continues in northern Myanmar, with indifference on behalf of international community. The Kachin people suffer a lot and experience a great sense of abandonment": this is the complaint made by a source of Fides in Mynamr who requested anonymity for safety reasons, talking about the violent conflict that continues in the Kachin state, between the Burmese army and the guerrillas of the Kachin Independent Army, in "an unstable war between rebel groups scattered in the jungle and a well organized and equipped army"
The source of Fides says: "The situation is getting more and more serious. The refugees are over 20 thousand. The Burmese soldiers do nothing to protect civilians fleeing in terror. All the foreign NGOs are denied to access the area and only the local Caritas is able to help them: in St. Joseph refugee camp, set up by Caritas in Myitkyina, there are over 500 displaced persons in need of everything. But most of the refugees, who are mostly Christians, flee into the jungle, where they struggle to survive and people are dying of hunger. Some flee to Thailand or India where they find a little assistance, or cross the border with China, where, however, they find a hostile environment and are thrown out by the people".
Regarding the conflict there is silence and indifference: "The big powers which border China and India have strong economic ties and commercial interests with the Burmese junta - explains the source - so they close their eyes. China and Russia are also the major supplier of arms to Burma. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is useless in this case, and even the UN, after messages and visits by observers, have blunt weapons, and is completely ineffective".
According to the source of Fides, "the war will only stop if the government of Myanmar will recognize, at least in part, the rights and dignity of the Kachin people, otherwise it will go ahead with serious suffering for civilians". "In Myanmar, all ethnic minorities suffer severe repression. And even the democratic leader Aun San Su Kyi cannot do much: she has just finished house arrest and cannot expose herself much at the political level. She speaks of national reconciliation talks, but the government seems deaf ". In this dramatic situation, he concludes, "the bishops, priests and nuns, encourage the faithful to pray for them: but the people are really put to the test". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 16/07/2011)
