At least 28,000 ethnic Chin (mainly Christian) refugees in Malaysia and India have lost their refugee status and are faced with returning to Buddhist-majority Myanmar (Burma), where they risk discrimination and military attack. The status change is a result of a policy revision by the UNHCR, which has stated that 'the conditions that would normally produce refugees no longer exist' in Chin province. Most Christians in Myanmar come from ethnic minorities. Kachin Christians in northern Myanmar are already facing a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing by the military. The thousands of Chin Christian refugees now face a terrible choice: risk returning to a place of conflict and persecution, or remain as illegal immigrants facing a life of poverty or potential imprisonment. To understand the situation better, see https://missionsbox.org/news/making-sense-myanmar-chin-kachin-shan-wa-states-uwsa/
Myanmar: refugee status lost
Written by David Fletcher 22 Nov 2018Additional Info
- Pray: for these refugees, as they have a great decision to make, that it will be the right one for them. Pray also that God will enable peaceful living for those who return to their homeland. (Isaiah 49:13b)
- More: barnabasfund.org/en/news/chin-christians-stripped-of-refugee-status-may-be-forced-to-return-to-face-persecution-in
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