Sister Ann Nu Thawng, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis Xavier, kneels in front of police and soldiers during an anti-coup protest in Myitkyina, Myanmar, Feb. 28, 2021. Pope Francis on March 17 said that he too kneels on the streets of Myanmar as he appealed for an end to violence and the start of dialogue. (CNS photo/courtesy Myitkyina News Journal )
The Diocese of Honolulu has been blessed with the service of three religious missionaries from Burma, officially named Myanmar. Sister Monica La Jen, a Missionary Sister of Faith, is a teacher’s aide at Sacred Hearts School Early Learning Center in Lahaina, Maui. Missionary of Faith Father Robert Ni Ni is a parochial vicar at Maria Lanakila Church in Lahaina, Maui. La Salette Father Antonio Nyo is the former pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Kula, Maui.
In response to the unsettling political events taking place now in their home country, the three wanted to share their side of the story, imploring the prayerful support of the people of Hawaii for peace in Myanmar. The following report is by Father Antonio Nyo.
By Father Antonio Nyo, MS
Special to the Herald
I was planning to go home to Myanmar on Feb. 9, 2021, but due to the military coup on Feb. 1, all flights were canceled. On the day I was supposed to arrive my father passed away. Unable to minister to him, the heartbreak I feel as I watch my family and others continue to suffer under the military grows deeper every day.
For those who may not understand the present situation in Burma, it is a gross tragedy that now has killed more than 550 of its citizens, injured many more, and put over 2,500 in prison. The military has declared a year-long state of emergency with military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing saying that he is on the side of the people and wants to form a disciplined democracy in the country. But the people have been protesting knowing that, as long as the present military is in power, it will continue to manipulate, persecute and abuse the populace leaving no hope for our future.
An unimaginable violence
Imagine a two-year-old child being asked by the military where his father was. Responding that he did not know, he was beaten and left with his skull crushed.
The same week, a woman in her 20s was ordered by the military to send out the 21 students she was harboring in her house. Refusing to do so, she was shot. The students faced the same fate.
A father, carrying his 6-year-old daughter, was also stopped by the military and asked if all the members of his family were present at home. The father replied, “Yes.” But the military did not believe him and shouted, “Liar, old man.” They then shot the little girl in her father’s arms. Her older brother was arrested and taken away.
Without warrants, soldiers have also dragged citizens from their homes at gunpoint, only to return them to their families as corpses.
The military continues to release criminals from prison to torch buildings, poison the drinking water, loot and riot, while detaining the innocent and trusted leaders the civilians voted for. Many trying to flee the cities go into hiding without adequate food or shelter. The unrest is real and affecting our families.
History of coup d’etats
Since it gained independence from Britain on Jan. 4, 1948, Burma has never really been free. Some say it was even freer under the British colony than under its own people. Through three coup d’etats, Burma has always been ruled by dictators or a one-party system. Its trusted father of the nation, General Aung Sun, who was able to unite the eight major ethnic groups of the country, was assassinated on July 19, 1947, along with eight cabinet members, leaving the country in total devastation.
After that, no one could be trusted as a leader. It was the beginning of the armed struggle of seven ethnic groups against each other, and most especially against the Burmese military who oppressed them in the most ruthless ways.
With the coup d’etats of 1962, 1988, and now in 2021, Burma now is known as the country with the longest civil war in the world, with democracy still remaining elusive. The resulting deaths of civilians, ethnic rebel soldiers, and the displaced Rohingya population, have been in the tens of thousands.
Military airstrikes near the end of March on the Karen ethnic group, forced 3,000 villagers to run toward the Thailand border and others to India. Unfortunately, some refugees were not welcomed and were turned away.
A woman mourns during the funeral of Khant Nyar Hein in Yangon, Myanmar, March 16, 2021. Nyar Hein, a 17-year-old medical student, was shot and killed during the security force crack down on anti-coup protesters in Yangon. (CNS photo/courtesy Myitkyina News Journal )
Childhood memories
During a recent coup, I remember as a young boy witnessing my father, brothers and uncles being taken away and forced to carry ammunition and other supplies as porters for the military. Porters had only a slim chance of survival. They faced crossfire, landmines, starvation, torture, and diseases such as malaria. Porters captured by the enemy were often forced to carry injured soldiers, while being used as human shields in battle.
Some villages in the countryside were burned to the ground. Other villages and towns, like my own village of Dorokhu, were forced to displace without any proper relocation or resettlement. Villagers fled for their lives walking days and nights and hiding in the jungles when possible. The Burma military continued to pursue them, shelling them with mortars. If any villagers were caught, they were raped, tortured and killed.
Fortunately, some refugees were able to make it to other countries, such as the United States, Britain, Australia, Germany, Finland and Netherlands. My three brothers tried to apply for asylum, but only one succeeded, in Australia.
State-sponsored terrorists
I personally consider the Burma military to be a group of terrorists — bandits, robbers, thieves and murderers. There has been no time under the military that citizens have felt safe. There is no crime that they did not commit, are not committing and will not continue to commit in the future. There is no law that they do not break and there is no right that they do not violate. There is no tribe that they do not kill, and no religion that they do not insult and desecrate.
It is a state-sponsored terrorist group with no one to convict or punish them. It is clear that the Burmese military has become the enemy of the nation. It is the highest form of treason to arrest top leaders duly elected by the people of the nation. It is a crime against women, to subject them to uncountable rapes and other abuses. It is a crime against the children, to inject them with drugs and recruit the underaged to be child soldiers.
A celebrity, who was arrested, said “The military rapes the nation of its future, its hope and its dignity.”
Protesters try to give first aid to fellow protester Phay Thein Kyaw after he was shot in the head during a security force crackdown on anti-coup protesters in Yangon, Myanmar, March 17, 2021. (CNS photo/courtesy Myitkyina News Journal )
A plea for intervention
Robbing and stealing money from charitable foundations, religious institutes and organizations is one thing. Killing a Buddhist temple guard to steal temple treasures is another. But stealing COVID-19 vaccines meant for the population, and cash donations from foreign countries for their own military purposes, is cruel. I have run out of words to describe how evil the situation is.
We need international intervention, and divine intervention. We call on the heavenly host to fight with us and for us. It is just too much for us to take on alone. I am just one storyteller among the 55 million Burmese people who have more profound stories to share than I.
