By Tola Mbakwe
Myanmar's military has been accused of turning its guns
from Rohingya Muslims on another ethnic minority in the country, the Kachin
people.
Release International, which supports persecuted
Christians worldwide, said the military stepped up its campaign against the
mainly Christian Kachin people in April.
They launched attacks using artillery, helicopter
gunships and infantry. Troops have displaced thousands, driving them from their
burning homes.
The military have also occupied churches and interrogated
entire congregations.
There are reports that the soldiers are using rape as a
weapon of war and are deliberately targeting camps for the displaced, which is
a war crime. They are also said to be sowing landmines to make villages
uninhabitable.
Andrew Boyd, spokesperson for the charity, told Premier
the oppression amounts to war crimes.
"We're talking about something like 10,000 people
displaced and what we saw happening with the Rohingya Muslims, all of the
brutality of that, exactly the same kinds of tactics, we're now seeing
happening with the largely Christian Kachin people," he said.
"People have been displaced. They've been moved from
their homes to camps, they've been moved from one camp to another camp. If
that's true, and the evidence certainly points in that direction, these are war
crimes."
According to Release International, conflict between the
controlling Myanmese people and other peoples erupted after World War Two. Some
Christian tribes, who sided with the British against the Japanese, expected a
homeland of their own in return. Instead they have faced 60 further years of
conflict.
Christians make up around nine per cent of the population
and have long been targets for religious persecution in Myanmar.
Release International said Buddhist monks have led
violent attacks against churches and church leaders, house churches have been
banned and there have been attempts to outlaw religious conversion. There have
also been legal moves to enforce the notion that to be Burmese is to be
Buddhist
Boyd added: "There is a very powerful movement
within Burma to say that if you are Burmese, you must be a Buddhist. In fact
there have been moves to try to enshrine that in law and prevent religious
conversion there."
Release International is working with partners in Burma
to support families impacted by persecution. Release is also supporting efforts
by the International Christian Association to train Christians and supply
Bibles - the authorities have outlawed Bibles translated into the languages of
the indigenous tribes.