Statement on the Baptist World Alliance’s Resolution on Myanmar
July 22, 2022

Ellicott City, Maryland, USA ——- During its 2022 Annual Gathering in Birmingham, Alabama from July 10-15, 2022, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Council adopted a new resolution on Myanmar/Burma in response to the Burmese military’s violent suppression of democracy and religious freedom.

The Chin Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAM) issues the following statement:

  1. CAM welcomes the Baptist World Alliance’s condemnation of Myanmar’s 2021 military coup and support for a democracy that respects the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.
  2. The BWA General Council’s resolution comes at a time of increasing military persecution of the Chin Christian minority. CAM extends special thanks to Rev. Dr. Roy Medley, General Secretary Emeritus of America Baptist Churches USA and CAM board advisor, for proposing and drafting this statement with input from CAM Executive Director Zo Tum Hmung.
  3. CAM encourages further advocacy in order to put pressure on the U.S. Senate to pass the BURMA Act of 2021 (S.2937).

Zo Tum Hmung previously spoke at the January 2020 BWA Congress in Melbourne, Australia to present on the military’s restrictions against the construction of Christian religious buildings and the printing of Christian religious texts, including the Bible. Mr. Hmung also spoke at the BWA Executive Committee on the invitation of the late Rev. Dr. Denton Lotz, former General Secretary of BWA.

Further information on the Burmese military’s religious persecution of Chin Christians can be found in CAM’s new report, “Seventeen Months After the Military Coup in Myanmar/Burma: Escalating Persecution of Chin Christians in Chin State and Sagaing Region,” released in June 2022.

Contact:
Zo Tum Hmung
Tel. 443-936-8616
zotumhmung@chinmd.org
 

The Chin Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAM) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization based in Ellicott City, Maryland.  CAM empowers the Chin communities in Maryland to be successfully integrated into American society. CAM also advocates for durable solutions for Chin and other refugees and internally displaced persons, and religious freedom and human rights in Burma.

Chins, virtually all of whom are Christians, are an ethnic nationality from Burma. They became Christians primarily due to the missionary efforts of the American Baptist Churches USA. They are a major recent U.S. refugee group that fled from Burma to neighboring countries to escape ethnic, political and religious persecution by the Burmese military since 1962. In 2001, about 1000 Chin asylees came to the U.S through Guam, resettling largely in Maryland, Indiana, Florida, and Texas. Since 2002, the U.S. has resettled many more Chin refugees coming through Malaysia and India. Chins now number 70,000 across the United States, with about 5,000 making Maryland their home.