【慈幼通訊社
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2017 年
2月
10
日緬甸仰光訊】
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仰光總教區慈幼會貎波樞機，向信眾作出緊急呼籲：「緬甸正度過史上其中一個最令人難受的時刻。緬甸人民哀愁滿面，因為國家要墮入黑暗的日子。緬甸急需國際間的關注，以強化國內脆弱的民主路。」
聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處，於2月3日出版的報告中，把這個國家描述為「令人深感不安」。文中提及若開邦的緬甸安全部隊，所作的暴行和嚴重違反人權的事件，樞機將之稱為「不人道的野蠻行為，駭人聽聞，難以置信。」他亦表示這些事件正是「讓我們醒覺起來」。
緬甸北部克欽邦及撣邦的情況，尤其在兩名克欽族群的基督教牧師被捕後，引起外間廣泛關注。貎波樞機寫道：「我祈求正義得勝，使他們獲釋，也為數以千計因北部軍事行動，而流離失所的人民祈禱。」他祈求政府「停止在若開邦、克欽邦及撣邦，針對平民的軍事攻擊。」他說：「只有正義來臨，才會有和平。」他呼籲政府「容許人道組織、傳媒及人權觀察者自由進出若開邦、克欽邦及撣邦。」
樞機希望緬甸「官員，能與國際組織合作，調查聯合國所報道的罪行」，他呼籲「國際團體醒覺起來，支援目前的緬甸民主政府。」他總結時說：「讓我們合作，停止國內的暴力與恐怖事件，建立一個不論性別、年齡、種族、宗教，都可以共處的國家，大家兄弟姊妹有如鄰舍一般。」緬甸教會因應這項呼籲，宣佈2017年為「和平年」，並協力推動國內和平。
Heartfelt appeal of Salesian Cardinal Charles Maung Bo
(ANS - Myanmar –Yangon, 10 February 2017) – "Myanmar is going through one of the most harrowing moments of its history. The people of Burma are deeply saddened because the country seems to be falling into dark days. Myanmar needs the attention of the world to strengthen its fragile path to democracy.": So says the Salesian Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, in an urgent appeal sent to Fides.
The text cites the report published on 3 February by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling it "deeply disturbing". It speaks of brutality and other serious violations of human rights by the Burmese security forces in Rakhine state, citing acts of "inhumanity and barbarity hard to read and hard to believe," the Cardinal says. It is "a wake-up call for all of us," he adds.
The situation in the northern states of Kachin and Shan is also preoccupying, in particular after the arrest of two Christian pastors of the Kachin ethnic group. "I pray that justice be done and that they be released. I pray also for the thousands of people displaced by the recent military action in northern Myanmar", writes Cardinal Bo, asking the government to "end the military offensive against civilians in the states of Rakhine, Kachin and Shan ". "Peace is possible only with justice," he says. The appeal asks the government to "allow free access to humanitarian agencies, the media and human rights observers in the states of Rakhine, Kachin and Shan".
The Cardinal hopes that the Burmese "executive will work alongside the international community to investigate crimes reported by the United Nations" and he "calls on the international community to be vigilant" and to "support the current Burmese democratic government." "Let us work together,” he concluded, “to end the violence and terror in our country, and to build a nation where every man, woman and child, of every race and religion, is recognized as a neighbour and our brother or sister in humanity" In this spirit, the Burmese Church has declared 2017 "Year of Peace" and will make its contribution.