{"id":406,"date":"2007-10-25T12:26:08","date_gmt":"2007-10-25T12:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/2007\/10\/burma-struggles.html"},"modified":"2007-10-25T12:26:08","modified_gmt":"2007-10-25T12:26:08","slug":"burma-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2007\/10\/burma-struggles.html","title":{"rendered":"Burma Struggles to Breathe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to my partner in crime, Seth Barnes<\/a>, President of AIM for this post. This is a follow-up to a post I did on Burma you can read by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of our World Racer’s, Stephanie Fisk, wrote about ethnic cleansing<\/a>
\nin Burma.
<\/span>Myanmar (previously Burma) has been under attack since
\nthe seventies – by their own government. And it’s not getting any
\nbetter. Imagine the Mexico\/USA frontier; move it to Asia and place it
\nbetween Myanmar and Thailand. Compared to Myanmar, Thailand appears to
\nbe a wealthy country. Just like Mexicans, people from Myanmar are
\nseeking a "better life"; the difference – they are seeking refuge from
\npersecution. <\/div>\n

You know those times when your ignorance shines so brightly that it
\nblinds you to the truth even when you are looking it in the eyes. Yes,
\nI know that Myanmar is very poor and a closed country to the Gospel;
\nbut I had no idea the extent of persecution taking place within its
\nborders. Just like the Jews during WWII (ethnic cleansing) and
\nChristians in southern Sudan (religious persecution), the Karen people
\nare being persecuted because they are Karen\u2026and many happen to be
\nChristian. Their very own government is trying to wipe out the "inferior" race and attempting to suffocate the Christian church.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Imagine 50,000 refugees trying to live a "normal" life inside the
\nconfinements of a camp. Yes, the walls are meant to protect, but from
\nthe perspective of many living inside – they are seen as a prison
\nsentence. It is rare to leave these confinements – years spent inside "your community." <\/p>\n

The day after we visited Myanmar, we were able to visit one of the
\nrefugee camps on the Thailand border. The camp has been established for
\naround 17 years. People continue to come daily, and the camp has
\nexpanded now to three different zones to accommodate the influx of people.
\nWhile inside the camp, the government only allowed us to visit the
\nschool. <\/p>\n

I imagine that this camp initially started off as a temporary
\nsolution to an immediate need, but over the years has evolved into a
\nliving, breathing community. At least on the surface level people
\nappear content: women washing clothes in the stream, kids playing by
\nthe water, students learning.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Burmese (Myanmar people) are grateful for this place of
\nrefuge, but above all, their eyes are set on returning home. They want
\nto grow up on their own land, farm their own land – feel like they
\nbelong. They are tired of receiving UN food rations; they are ready to "go fishing for themselves." <\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

Acute brain drain is another issue that, because of my American
\nperspective, I totally overlooked. Replacement of Burmese refugees to
\nthe UK or America is draining Myanmar of the very individuals needed to
\nrestore their country. I guess we (America) like to accept those that
\nshow potential and will not be a drain to our<\/span> economy – thus we
\neagerly receive those with an education and those that can make a life
\nfor themselves in America. But what happens to those in dire need: the
\nwidows, the handicapped, the orphaned? They remain in the refugee camp.
\nI know that we are only trying to help, but a very real concern for
\nmany Burmese is that we are draining them of the very people that could
\nturn their lives and country back around for the positive.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n

"We just need to go to the root of the problem and stop it there,"
\nexclaimed Wado<\/a>, a 31 year-old Burmese man who has been living in the
\ncamp for 15 years. "Go to the government. If we can somehow remove or
\nchange those in leadership positions, I believe everything else will
\ntalk care of itself. We will be able to go back home, and I will be able
\nto see my family again." <\/p>\n

He believes in God. But the tone of his voice insinuates that time, frustrations and life<\/span> have left him with more cries for help "unanswered" than "answered." <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to my partner in crime, Seth Barnes, President of AIM for this post. This is a follow-up to a post I did on Burma you can read by clicking here. One of our World Racer’s, Stephanie Fisk, wrote about ethnic cleansing in Burma.Myanmar (previously Burma) has been under attack since the seventies – by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"yoast_head":"\nBurma Struggles to Breathe - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2007\/10\/burma-struggles.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Burma Struggles to Breathe - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thanks to my partner in crime, Seth Barnes, President of AIM for this post. 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He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}