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Illegal Aliens or Refugees? 100,000 Burmese Chin Christians in India

 burma chin india

  • (Photo: The Christian Post)

    (l-r) Dan Kosten, chair of Refugee Council USA; Joel Charny, vice president for humanitarian policy and practice at InterAction; Matthew Wilch, U.S. human rights lawyer and lead writer of the report; and Jenny Yang, director of advocacy and policy for the Refugee and Immigration Program at World Relief, at a press conference for the release of the report “Seeking Refuge: The Chin People in Mizoram State, India, on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

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By Michelle A. Vu , Christian Post Reporter

March 6, 2012|6:06 pm

WASHINGTON – Some 100,000 ethnic Chins from Burma have fled torture and religious persecution in their homeland to take refuge in Mizoram state in eastern India, where they make up an astounding 10 percent of the population – but on paper – they don’t exist.

This problem – the Chins’ legal non-existence in Mizoram – brought together a panel of humanitarian experts on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about the plight of this highly overlooked ethnic group – 90 percent of which is Christian – at a media event for the release of the 134-page report,“Seeking Refuge: The Chin People in Mizoram State, India.”

“Partially due to difficulty with access into Chin state in Burma and Mizoram in India, there has been much less focus on the Chin situation than it really warrants,” said Joel Charny, vice president for humanitarian policy and practice at Interaction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based relief and development organizations.

“This report shines a badly need light on a painful, neglected situation.”

The Chin people are from Chin State in western Burma. Since 1988, tens of thousands of Chins have fled to neighboring Mizoram to escape ethnic, political, and religious persecution under the notorious Burmese military regime. There are an estimated 100,000 Chins in Mizoram state. Until January 2011, foreigners were not allowed into the eastern Indian state.

A delegation, that included panel members, traveled to India from April 7 through May 2, 2011, to assess the situation of the Chin people in Mizoram. What they found was a little-reported, long-term, urban refugee problem that included the Chins in India being considered illegal aliens and therefore in constant danger of arrest, fines, and deportation – even though they could face torture and death if returned home.

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Because the Chins in Mizoram are undocumented and not recognized as refugees, they cannot obtain legal work and mostly resort to manual labor, farm work, construction work, selling goods in markets, and maid service to earn a living. It is not unusual for them to be underpaid, but they cannot report it to local authorities out of fear of being arrested or deported.

Matthew Wilch, a U.S. human rights lawyer and the lead writer of the report, described the Chins’ financial situation in Mizorum as “chronic economic instability.” Eviction of Chin families from their rented home is very common.

It is especially hard for Chin children born in Mizoram because they are stateless and their parents often don’t have enough money to enroll them in school.

Jenny Yang, director of advocacy and policy for the Refugee and Immigration program at World Relief and a member of the team that visited Mizoram last year, said, “[I]t (the 2011 trip to Mizoram) was also unique in that there was virtually no international presence, no non-government organization. And UNHCR didn’t have a presence at all, which meant that the protection challenges and humanitarian challenges that the refugees face was that much more urgent because they have no international body providing protection for this group of people.”

Yang recalled that during the trip to Mizoram, she met a woman who was crying while recalling her plight. The Chin woman shared to Yang that Burmese military officials had detained and tortured her 18-year-old brother out of suspicion that he was a pro-democracy activist. After two weeks of being tortured in jail, her brother died. His body was released to her parents and it was after this that the Burmese military realized that her brother was not a pro-democracy activist but only a student.

The woman said that her other brother was also tortured in jail, and his left hand was cut off. With only one hand left, her brother fled to Mizoram to escape being detained again. Back in Chin State, the woman was a teacher and had two children. But one day she reported to authorities that one of her 14-year-old students was raped by two Burmese soldiers. While at the market that week, the woman’s friends informed her that Burmese authorities were at her home. Upon hearing that, she fled to Mizoram, where she lives with her handicapped brother and her parents.

“There is no assistance program or protection for them whatsoever in Mizoram,” Yang stressed. “Even as these refugees are fleeing persecution in Burma, they flee to India where there is no protection for them at all, and the fear they have is perpetual – not just in Burma but in India as well.

“Without the legal status of a lot of these refugees, without some sort of documentation, what we found is that this lack of protection has affected literally every single aspect of their lives: their livelihood, their access to healthcare, their access to education, and literally every aspect of their lives. They live not only in fear, but on the margins of a society because they are not recognized as refugee in Mizoram state.”

The panel recommendation includes that the central government of India maintain the lifting of the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) so that humanitarian organizations, governments and individuals can travel to Mizoram state to meet with those affected by the Chin refugee problem and find a solution.

It also recommends the Indian government and UNHCR establish and maintain refugee protection for Chins in partnership with the international community, and for the Indian government to provide Chins with legal status and access to legal and court protections so they will be freed from the threat of arrest and deportation.

Another recommendation is for the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and other countries and the European Union to partner with the central government of India and Mizoram to provide refugee protection and assistance to Chins.

India’s Mizoram state is overwhelmingly Christian, with 95 percent of the 1 million population being followers of Jesus.

“I cannot overstate the importance of the Christian community and church in Mizoram state,” noted Jenny Yang. “The influence of the church, whether it is the Presbyterian church, the Baptist church, or the Catholic church especially, is critical and they will continue to be critical in providing any kind of assistance to refugees in the future.”

On the web:  chinseekingrefuge.com

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Estudos

New Archaeological Discovery Questions Jesus’ Bodily Resurrection

 

Scientists Say Bones Discovered in Tomb Supported by Biblical Accounts

By Luiza Oleszczuk , Christian Post Reporter

February 29, 2012|2:53 pm

NEW YORK – A new archaeological discovery on a Jerusalem site is causing controversy as it revives the debate over the "Jesus tomb" and presents what scientists claim is proof that a burial box was found containing the remains of Jesus, and possibly his family – a direct contradiction to the belief in Christ’s bodily resurrection.

  • Jesus Tomb ossuary Discovery Times Square

    (Photo: The Christian Post / Luiza Oleszczuk)

    Replicas of two ossuaries (bone boxes) discovered on a site in Jerusalem, which some scientists believe to be tombs related to Jesus Christ and his family. Here seen presented at Discovery Times Square in New York during a press conference on Feb. 28, 2012. The originals remain at the site and it is impossible to remove them at the time, the scientists said.

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The team of scientists, lead by biblical scholar James Tabor and documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, co-authors of the newly released book, The Jesus Discovery: The New Archaeological Find that Reveals the Birth of Christianity, claim the newly explored sealed tomb dating to the 1st century CE, is proof that the nearby tomb discovered a year earlier contains Jesus’ remains.

Tabor and Jacobovici believe the new tomb, which they explored in 2010 with a robotic camera, is closely tied to another nearby tomb referred to as the "Jesus Family Tomb" or the "Garden Tomb." The tomb was first uncovered by construction work in 1981, but religious reasons did not allow exploration.

In a 2007 documentary, Jacobovici claimed that the "Jesus Family Tomb" ossuaries had once contained the remains of Jesus and his family. The tomb contained ossuaries with inscriptions containing the names Jesus, Mary, Joseph close to each other. That is little likely to be coincidental, the scientists said, even though at the time some scholars dismissed these claims, saying the names were mere coincidence.

Dr. Ben Witherington, New Testament professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, had noted at the release of the 2007 documentary that the names etched on the ossuaries are extremely common place. For example, the name Mary was the most popular female name during that time and place, while the name "Jesus" was popular in the first century and appeared in 98 other tombs and on 21 other ossuaries.

Nevertheless, the scientists believe that the "Jesus Family Tomb" is located on the land once belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, who, according to Scriptures, had Christ’s body placed in his own tomb.

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Now, the newly explored tomb, located only 200 feet from the "Jesus Family Tomb," "ups the likelihood" that the theory is correct, Tabor told The Christian Post. The tomb contains several ossuaries that have images and inscriptions related to Jesus’ resurrection, Christianity, and what the authors suggest is the first image of a Christian cross.

During a Tuesday press conference in New York at Discovery Times Square, the authors pointed to inscriptions on the bone boxes as evidence. One of them carries the sign of a fish, which the scientists interpreted as a reference to Old Testament prophet Jonah, and associated with Jesus’ death and burial. The same box shows an inscription scientists say suggests resurrection and what looks like a sign of cross.

"Whether it’s a Christian cross or not, normally if you find a cross – like creation on an ossuary – most scholars would say ‘Well, it’s not necessarily a cross, it could represent a gate or a doorway,’ something like that, but with the Jonah image, I think there is more of a likelihood for it to be a cross," Tabor told CP.

The sign of Jonah makes the discovery easier to interpret, he claims, because Jesus is quoted as saying, in Matthew 12, "as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights."

"Everything was done properly, scientifically," Tabor insisted during Tuesday’s press conference at Discovery Times Square.

Jesus Tomb Ossuary Discovery

(Photo: The Christian Post / Luiza Oleszczuk)

Documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici recounts the discovery of what he and a few other experts claim to be bone boxes coming from Jerusalem tombs related to Jesus Christ and the early history of Christianity, at Discovery Times Square in New York during a press conference on Feb. 28, 2012.

The findings are the earliest testimony of faith in the resurrection of Jesus, pre-dating the oldest known copy of the New Testament Gospel and even the Gospels themselves, the scientists claim. The carvings are believed to be the earliest Christian symbols ever discovered, and have been in the tombs for the past 2,000 years. They are "the most important archaeological find since the Dead Sea Scrolls," Jacobovici said Tuesday.

Tabor and Jacobovici’s theory is controversial, especially since the scientists believe they might have discovered Jesus’ bones in one of the ossuaries. That theory goes against the belief of most Christians that Jesus appeared bodily to his disciples after the resurrection, and ate with them before finally ascending to heaven, as explained in the Gospels. One of the disciples is recorded in the Bible to have also touched the nail prints on Jesus’ hands.

Furthermore, the scientists believe that there is a possibility that in the same tomb and next to the remains believed to be Jesus’ are bones that might have belonged to Mary Magdalene.

Still, Tabor argues, the discovery does not necessarily go against Christian faith.

"What I encourage people to do is take these tombs one at a time," Tabor told CP. "This tomb, rather than being a threat to Christians, is an amazing archaeological evidence for early Christians recording their faith in Jesus’ resurrection."

Therein comes the question of the meaning of "resurrection," he said. "Does it mean getting a new spiritual body? That’s been debated by Jews and Christians for centuries –what kind of body will the resurrection body be? It doesn’t necessarily involve the old body, especially if the old body has gone decayed or gone to dust."

"If we found evidence of people celebrating their faith in resurrection, that’s good news for you," Tabor tends to tell Christians he believes might feel threatened by the discovery, he revealed. "Because before this, you didn’t have any archaeological evidence at all for beliefs in Jesus’ resurrection."

"This discovery by Tabor and Jacobovici will no doubt provide thoughtful new dialogue from both ends of the spectrum about one of the most discussed and divisive archaeological findings in recent history," Discovery Times Square CEO James Sanna said in a statement. Sanna also emphasized that the museum does not take a side on the findings.

The ossuaries the authors suggest are part of the "Jesus Family Tomb" are currently on display at Discovery Times Square, and coincides with the publication of Tabor and Jacobovici’s book, The Jesus Discovery. A film titled "The Resurrection Tomb" will air this spring on the Discovery Channel and VisionTelevision in Canada.

[email protected]; @Luiza_CP

Categorias
Noticias

Justiça gaúcha manda retirar crucifixos de repartições

 

FELIPE BÄCHTOLD
DE PORTO ALEGRE

A Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul decidiu nesta terça-feira (6) acatar pedido de uma ONG e vai retirar crucifixos e símbolos religiosos de todas as salas do Judiciário do Estado.

O Tribunal de Justiça gaúcho considerou que a presença do objeto nos fóruns e na sede do Judiciário pode ir contra princípios constitucionais de um Estado laico (que não sofre influência de igrejas).

A retirada dos símbolos foi um pedido da ONG Liga Brasileira de Lésbicas, o que motivou um processo administrativo no tribunal.

O relator do caso, o desembargador Cláudio Baldino Maciel, afirmou em seu voto que um julgamento feito em uma sala onde há um "expressivo símbolo" de uma doutrina religiosa não é a melhor forma de mostrar que o julgador está "equidistante" dos valores em conflito.

A decisão foi tomada pelo Conselho da Magistratura, órgão do TJ gaúcho para planejamento e administração. Representantes de entidades religiosas acompanharam a sessão.

No ano passado, o TJ havia negado o mesmo pedido da Liga de Lésbicas, que encaminhou ainda solicitação semelhante à Câmara Municipal de Porto Alegre.

A presença de símbolos cristãos em prédios públicos motiva polêmica em outras partes do Brasil e do mundo.

Em São Paulo, o Ministério Público Federal ajuizou ação em 2009 pedindo a retirada de crucifixos de edifícios federais. O pedido foi negado em primeira instância porque a juíza responsável considerou "natural" a exibição do objeto em um país de "formação histórico-cultural cristã".

No mesmo ano, a Comissão Europeia condenou a Itália por manter objetos religiosos em salas de aula