Half a Million Murders Has Yet to Capture International Attention

Mission Network News has a compelling article today about the millions of people not only in Rwanda have been lost, but also in Burma who are still suffering under genocide and persecution.  Here's a snip from the article:

The conflict may be resolved in Rwanda, but genocide itself is far from over. Hundreds of miles northwest of Rwanda in Burma, ethnic cleansing has wiped out half a million people already.

"It seems like what's happening is that the Burmese government is trying to wipe out anybody that doesn't agree with them--especially these tribal people because they're sitting on land that they [the government] want because they need the natural resources to sell to China and to other surrounding countries. So instead of moving the people and then compensating them, it's easier to just wipe them out," explains Patrick Klein with Vision Beyond Borders.

Reports indicate that between 500,000 and 600,000 people have been killed in the genocide so far, and over 4,300 villages have been wiped out. Children are being used as mine sweepers, women are raped, men are killed; the U.N. has even labeled the violence as genocide. And yet the international community has remained suspiciously silent.

International media has, for the most part, covered very little of the atrocities taking place daily in what is now known as Myanmar. Klein says local news outlets are often completely unaware that genocide is taking place. International news sources appear to know about the issue, but simply are not covering it, says Klein.

"We tried to talk to one lady from a reputable international news source, and she said, ‘This is not new; this has been going on for years.' And we said, ‘But half a million people have died.' And she said, ‘The American people don't want to hear about this right now.'"

The church has generally been just as disinterested in discussing the topic.

Please add these horrible situations in these nations to your prayer lists.  Forty percent of the Karen people in Burma are Christians and they remain faithful.  Please pray that more attention is brought to their situation. Pray for them to be able to receive bibles and that workers would be able to bring in aid and comfort.