The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns led an interfaith group in a letter to Congress in support of the BURMA Act of 2021, a bill to stop the violent repression by the military junta in Myanmar.
Read the press statement and the letter as a PDF.
February 15, 2022
Today, February 15, 2022, 18 faith-based organizations sent a letter to the members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives calling on them to support the BURMA Act of 2021, a bill that responds to the ongoing, violent repression of citizens by the military junta that seized power in Myanmar on February 1, 2021.
The BURMA Act of 2021 would provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance, support civil society, promote human rights and impose targeted sanctions against the military regime to address human rights abuses.
“Guided by our faith traditions, we believe that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected,” the letter states. “After careful research and consultation with partners in Myanmar, faith-based and other human rights organizations, we are confident the sanctions established in the BURMA Act would not have a significant negative impact on the civilian population, and that they are necessary to effectively pressure the junta to cease its violent repression of democracy activists and ethnic and religious minorities.”
The letter echoes the call of faith leaders on the ground who stress the urgency of the situation in Myanmar and the need for nonviolent solutions. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, in a recent interview with America Magazine, said, “Unfortunately, the conflict is becoming more brutal; the atrocities are more shocking each day. Our people are not resigned. They seek peace with dignity and a country that will be reborn through reconciliation."
Photo Credit: Jan van Raay, available on Flickr.