Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay has called for human dignity and property to be respected as Myanmar’s military junta continues its attacks on civilians in several villages.

“I am deeply disheartened to learn about the suffering of thousands of people, especially from villages including Catholics whose homes were burned, properties looted and who have become homeless, displaced and in dire need of food and shelter,” Archbishop Tin Win said in a video message on July 17.

As attacks on civilians by the military junta in Myanmar continue to escalate, with indiscriminate shelling and bombing, and houses being set ablaze in several regions across the country, Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay is calling for respect for human dignity and property.

“Their villages are becoming a land of ashes lacking homes, trees and birds. I am also deeply sorrowful over thousands of our brothers and sisters who can’t live in their own homes and instead live in makeshift camps who are facing acute hunger,” the prelate said.

“According to the teachings of the Church, human existence and human dignity need to be respected””

Archbishop Tin Win further remarked that Catholic villagers in Mandalay Archdiocese affected by the ongoing conflict have been living side by side with Buddhists peacefully and harmoniously for decades. “They have mutual understanding and respect despite their differences and there have never been religious conflicts in those villages,” he said.

Over the past weeks, the military junta which took over the reins of power on February 1, 2021, has been specifically targeting historic Catholic villages in the Buddhist Bamar heartland of Sagaing, home region to Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, in a bid to crack down on growing resistance by people’s defense forces. Amid them the Mon Hla village, where air strikes and artillery shelling have hit a church, a convent and houses, and its inhabitants are seeking shelter in forests and other safe areas. The military has also stepped up offensives in the neighboring Magwe region and Chin State in the West forcing villagers to flee their homes and to live in makeshift camps with no food.

Meanwhile, in a report released on Wednesday, Amnesty International (AI) accused Myanmar's military regime of committing war crimes by using anti-personnel landmines on a massive scale in and around villages in predominantly Christian Kayah state. The human rights organization recalled that anti-personnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate and their use is internationally banned. It said the landmines laid by the Tamadaw, the Myanmar armed forces, have killed and seriously injured civilians and will have significant long-term consequences, including on displaced people’s ability to return home and farm their lands.

AI researchers interviewed 43 people in Kayah state’s Hpruso and Loikaw townships from June 25 to July 8 where fighting erupted between the military and armed Karenni groups in May 2021. The military has laid mines in at least 20 villages in Hpruso, Demoso and Loikaw townships in Kayah state in recent months, AI said citing "credible sources."