UWSA allows reopening of churches

18 December 2019
UWSA allows reopening of churches
Panghsang. Photo: Ye Aung Thu/AFP

Christian churches ordered closed last year by an ethnic separatist army in northern Myanmar’s Shan state have begun to reopen, with 52 Baptist churches now again in operation, RFA reported.

Restrictions on churches closed by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) began to lift in September in Hotaung, Mei Pauk, and Pansang townships, The Rev. Dr. Lazarus—bishop of the Lahu Baptist Christian League in the state’s Wa Self-Administered Region—told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Tuesday.

Beginning in September 2018, the UWSA, a 30,000-strong ethnic armed group with close ties to China, began detaining Christian clergy members and shutting down dozens of their churches, questioning pastors, bishops, and nuns about whether they were engaging in development work or persuading people to convert to Christianity.