List of Churches Burned in Thantlang Town of Chin State, Burma

July 6, 2023

Washington, DC — The Chin Association of Maryland (CAM) has received credible information that the Burmese military, or Tatmadaw, has burned 21 of the 22 churches in Thantlang town, Chin State. Only Olive Baptist Church has avoided destruction. The entire population of the town, approximately 10,000 people, has been displaced, with some fleeing to the Indo-Burma border area and others taking refuge in Mizoram State, India.

List of Churches Destroyed in Thantlang:

1. Thantlang Baptist Church                           12. Presbyterian Church of Myanmar
2. Johnson Memorial Baptist Church             13. Church on the Rock
3. Thantlang Centenary Baptist Church         14. Seventh Day Adventist
4. Believer Church of Myanmar                     15. Evangelical Free Methodist Church of
5. Assembly of God                                        Myanmar
6. United Pentecostal Church                         16. Church of Jesus Christ*
7. Mara Evangelical Church                           17. Church of Jesus Christ (local)*
8. Roman Catholic Church                             18. The Church*
9. Evangelical Holiness Church                     19. Sabbath*
10. Gospel Baptist Church                              20. Mara Baptist Church*
11. Methodist Church                                     21. Shalom Baptist Church
*Churches using a rented building
CAM source confidential for security reasons

CAM condemns the military’s burning of Christian churches and all other forms of religious persecution perpetrated across Burma. CAM makes the following recommendations:

  1. The Biden administration shoulddetermine the Burmese military’s atrocities against Christians as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  2. The U.S. Congress should adopt a resolution condemning the Tatmadaw’s atrocities against Christians across Burma and demanding they immediately cease the violence.

CAM’s most recent report on religious persecution in Burma, Two Years After the 2021 Military Coup, can be found on the CAM website here.
Contact:
Zo Tum Hmung
Tel. 443-936-8616
zotumhmung@chinmd.org
www.chinmd.org
The Chin Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAM) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. CAM empowers Chin communities in Maryland to 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.