Christmas and New Year Season for Those Displaced by War

Christmas and New Year Season for Those Displaced by War

 

In many parts of Myanmar where fighting is ongoing, there are large numbers of ethnic communities who practice Christianity. At present, places such as Kachin State, Karenni (Kayah) State, Kayin (Karen) State, Chin State, and parts of northern Shan are experiencing conflict, or people still cannot return to their villages and towns, and therefore have to live as displaced persons elsewhere.

 

For Christians, December is one of the most revered religious seasons of the year—the time of Christmas—when families traditionally reunite and rest at home. However, as a consequence of the coup and the widening civil war, the military has shown no respect for these sacred occasions and has continued carrying out airstrikes and ground offensives even during such times.

 

Many churches where people gather to worship during Christmas have also been damaged or destroyed in the course of the war—through air attacks and artillery shelling. Hundreds of churches across regions such as Kachin, Karenni, Chin, and northern Shan have been affected. Beyond that, the mass killing that occurred in 2021 near Mo So Village in Hpruso Township, Karenni (Kayah) State—when 49 civilians fleeing fighting were shot dead and their vehicles burned on a day around Christmas Eve—remains a heartbreaking and painful tragedy even four years later.

 

The incident near Mo So Village, which took place on December 24, 2021, continues to haunt the people of Karenni (Kayah) State as a deep collective trauma.

 

In the current period, attacks from the air—whether by aircraft, paramotors, or drones—are considered even more likely. For this reason, the Commander-in-Chief of the Karenni Army (KA) has warned the public to be especially cautious about gatherings during the 18-day New Year period from December 19 to January 5. Reports say the statement explained that the coup military may target crowds for attacks during this time, which is why the public is being warned.

 

It is also believed that heightened security caution is necessary because the coup regime plans to hold the first phase of its election on December 28. Whether the election is held or not, the coup military’s focus has consistently been on gaining military advantage rather than respecting the religious holy days and sacred seasons of ethnic communities and the general public. Over the past four to five years, experience has shown that the military has carried out air and ground attacks during Christian Christmas seasons, during the traditional Burmese Thingyan period, and even during occasions like the Thadingyut full-moon festival.

 

Currently, ground fighting is occurring across many areas of Sagaing Region and Mandalay Region. In Kachin State, clashes are taking place in the Hpakant area and around Bhamo. In Kayin State, fighting has been reported in areas of Myawaddy Township, including zones associated with “online scam” compounds, as well as other locations. Other conflict areas include the Htee Khee–Mawtaung border region in Dawei District, Tanintharyi Region; Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State; southern Rakhine and the border areas with Ayeyarwady Region, including Laymyethna and Yegyi; the Rakhine Yoma areas where Bago Region meets Rakhine; areas where Magway Region borders Rakhine; western and northern parts of Magway; western Bago; and parts of Chin State such as Tedim and Falam.

 

Not only are there ground-front battlefields, but air attacks are also being carried out against areas without active ground fronts—places controlled by PDFs or ethnic armed organizations.

 

For Christian ethnic communities, Christmas is a once-a-year season when they would naturally want, even briefly, to feel relief from constant fear and anxiety, and to live with family and within their communities—villages and towns—supported by morale, mutual help, and care for one another.

But sadly, for those living in conflict zones, they remain in a situation where they cannot have such an opportunity. For four to five years now, many have had to endure Christmas quietly—inside bomb shelters, in displacement camps, or scattered as separated family members taking refuge in neighboring countries—and this is a sorrowful reality they continue to face.