Miao & Goa: The Youth for Myanmar campaign has received support from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) as it participated in its virtual launching event on 29 June 2021.
In a letter addressed to the youth secretaries, animators and youth directors of Indian Catholic Church, the Deputy Secretary General of CCBI, Father Stephen Alathara appealed everyone to attend the launching event to express solidarity for peace and freedom in Myanmar.
The appeal was attached with the endorsement note from Bishop Filiepe Neri Ferrao, the President of CCBI and Archbishop of Goa and Daman.
The six-month long campaign was launched online by Bishop Joel Baylon, the Bishop of Lagazpi Diocese in the Philippines.
The virtual event was attended by nearly 300 participants from across the world, mostly from the South Asian countries. There were a good number of participants from North East India, which shares 1600 KMs of its boundary with Myanmar.
Speaking at the launching event, Dr. Francis, an expert in Asian Political Studies, presented a historical perspective to the current situation in Myanmar. “It is more than 140 days since the coup and crackdown on democracy took place in Myanmar. And there seems to be no hope in sight yet”, he said.
The launching event highlighted some of the facts on the grim situation in Myanmar. At least 873 people have been killed by the junta coup. Of these at least 73 are children. A total of 5045 people are under detention. 1950 people have been issued arrest warrants; of them 31 were sentenced to death. More than 980000 people have left the country and sought asylum in neighbouring countries. Many people have crossed over to Mizoram and Manipur in North East India.
Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao Diocese in Arunachal Pradesh, which shares much of its boundary with Myanmar said, “The problem in Myanmar is our problem also, as we share most of our boundary with our neighbouring country. The people suffering there are the same people we serve here, who moved to this part of India some 200 years ago. We all pray for an immediate solution to the turmoil in Myanmar.”
The youth campaign for Myanmar will run upto December 2021 with webinars, signature campaign, workshops, review meetings and peace building efforts spread across the next six months.
The campaign aims at spreading awareness on critical issues in Myanmar to press for action from international communities.
The Youth for Myanmar campaign is a collaborative effort of various youth organization in Aisa, like the International Movement of Catholic Students, International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements, International Young Catholic Students, Signis Malaysia, Thailand, Asia, Society of St. Vincent De Paul, Cambodia, International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth, Young lives Development Center, Fondacio, Community Action Network and Kachin Refugee Community, Malaysia, among many other.