Democratic Voice of Burma
Easter under fire: Religious freedom under assault in Myanmar – DVB
Salai Za Uk Ling
As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Easter, many Christian communities in Myanmar are bracing for airstrikes.
On March 29, Myanmar’s military carried out airstrikes using two jet fighters on civilian homes in Kyaung Chaung village in Paletwa Township, killing seven Khumi Chin civilians and injuring four others.
The targets were not military positions but residential homes. This attack was not an isolated incident.
In the first three months of 2026, the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has documented 137 airstrikes across Chin State, killing at least 19 civilians, injuring 42 and destroying 88 homes.
For many believers in Chin State, Easter no longer arrives only with prayer and reflection. It arrives with the sound of fighter jets overhead.
What is unfolding in Myanmar is not simply the tragedy of war. It is also a systematic assault on freedom of religion or belief, a fundamental right protected under Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Chin State is one of Myanmar’s most heavily Christian regions, where churches have long served as the center of community life.
When churches are bombed or pastors arrested, the impact goes far beyond physical destruction. It strikes at the heart of communities and their ability to practice their faith freely.
Since the 2021 military coup, CHRO has documented more than 140 attacks on churches and religious infrastructure in Chin State alone.
Churches have been burned, shelled or occupied by military forces. Pastors have been arrested, tortured or killed. Entire Christian communities have been forced to flee their homes.
Across Myanmar’s ethnic regions, similar patterns have emerged. Churches and religious buildings have been destroyed in Chin, Karenni, Karen and Kachin states.
Religious sites have been damaged or repurposed for military use. Christian villages have been burned, forcing thousands of believers into forests and displacement camps.
Holy Week itself has not been spared.
In recent years, airstrikes have struck Christian communities during Easter week, killing civilians including a pastor and an infant as believers gathered for worship.
For persecuted Christians in Myanmar, Easter arrives not only with prayer, but with fear.
Yet the story of Myanmar’s Christians today is not only one of suffering. It is also one of courage.
Documenting violations of religious freedom
Across Myanmar’s ethnic regions, communities continue to document atrocities committed against them.
They do so because truth matters.
Local human rights defenders have transformed documentation into a powerful form of resistance.
Evidence gathered on the ground exposes violations of religious freedom that might otherwise remain hidden from the world.
These efforts are also laying the groundwork for justice.
CHRO has worked with international partners to pursue accountability through universal jurisdiction cases against Myanmar military officials in the Philippines and Timor-Leste.
Justice, after all, should not stop at national borders.
Earlier this year, I traveled to Dili to engage civil society leaders and government officials about these legal efforts.
I was honored to be received by President José Ramos-Horta, whose country’s own struggle for justice and freedom resonates deeply with the people of Myanmar.
Such solidarity matters profoundly to victims.
It reminds persecuted communities that they are not forgotten. It also sends a powerful message that impunity cannot last forever.
In Manila, we have also engaged church leaders and civil society groups to raise awareness about the persecution of Christians in Myanmar.
During earlier visits, I had the privilege of meeting Catholic leaders including Pablo Virgilio S. David to discuss how faith communities can stand with those who suffer.
Faith communities have historically played an important role in defending freedom of belief and the dignity of the oppressed. Today that role remains as urgent as ever.
ASEAN and the protection of religious freedom
This year carries particular significance because the Philippines holds the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
As chair, the Philippines helps shape the regional agenda and diplomatic response to Myanmar’s crisis.
For decades ASEAN has struggled to respond effectively to Myanmar’s crises. But the region now faces a defining moment.
Myanmar’s military is attempting to manufacture legitimacy through deeply flawed elections while continuing to bomb civilian communities across the country, including churches and other places of worship.
Violence must not be laundered through ballots.
Regional governments should speak clearly about the systematic violations of freedom of religion or belief taking place in Myanmar.
ASEAN member states should reject any attempt by the military to legitimize its rule while it continues to wage war against civilians and target religious communities.
They should also support accountability efforts, including universal jurisdiction cases brought by victims and civil society organizations.
Practical measures are urgently needed to restrict the flow of aviation fuel and weapons that enable airstrikes against civilian communities and religious sites.
Finally, ASEAN must strengthen engagement with Myanmar civil society organizations so that regional diplomacy reflects the voices of the people most affected by this crisis.
Hope amid persecution
Earlier this month I raised these concerns at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
During the session, the importance of accountability pathways including universal jurisdiction was recognized as an emerging avenue for justice for Myanmar’s victims.
This recognition offers hope.
But justice will require more than legal mechanisms. It will require sustained international attention to the systematic violations of religious freedom taking place in Myanmar.
For me, this appeal is deeply personal.
My grandfather was among the earliest converts to Christianity among the Chin people more than a century ago.
Since then the church has stood at the heart of our communities, shaping our identity, our values and our hope.
Today those churches are under attack. Yet our faith remains unbroken.
Myanmar’s persecuted Christians are not passive victims. Communities continue to document atrocities committed against them.
Civil society organizations pursue justice through international law. And believers across the country continue to worship despite the risks they face.
Easter reminds Christians that light can emerge even from the darkest moments.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
For the people of Myanmar, that hope now depends not only on faith, but also on the solidarity of the world.
Salai Za Uk Ling is executive director of the Chin Human Rights Organization, a nongovernmental organization established in 1995 to protect civilians, document atrocity crimes, and advance justice for the Chin people and other ethnic communities in Myanmar. He has a pending war crimes complaint against top officials of the Myanmar junta before the Philippine Department of Justice under the international humanitarian law.