H.E. Dr. Sasa addressed the Crisis Plenary at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, USA.

Dear brothers and sisters, at the Parliament of the World’s Religious conference in Chicago, United States of America, thank you so much indeed for having me today. I am speaking to you from a country in crisis, for a people in Peru, whose freedom has been restored by genocide and Military junta, and whose lives are at risk every day. 

I am speaking for people whose children will be born at their school desk, whose women and children have been forced from their home. My home is in Burma, also called Miemo. I am in exile myself, forced from my country, by the brutal genocide and military junta, unjust violence of military coup in February of 2021.

I am also speaking for people who have a hope, Miemo has a hope, I have hope. The people of Miemo have rejected the unlawful military coup, Buddhism Christians, Hindu, Muslim, all work of life. We stand as one against those who want us to cover, to live and delight to serve their Greeks. We say no to this, we say yes to a life of dignity, we say yes to freedom, we say yes to defending human rights on the face of this brutality and humanity. 

Let me refer to you a words of a Buddhist leader, a senior abode, who in the presence of genocide and Military Generals, last week, chose to speak and not whistle words of collaborators about the truthful words of a man of God. He said these three things, summarizing all Buddhist teachings into just three. Number one, not to do evil, nor sin. Number two, to do good. Number three, to purify one’s hearts. As a believer whose faith is founded on a scripture, I am reminded of the Hebrew scripture and the prophet Isaiah, who in the chapter 1 says, wash yourself, make yourself clean, put away an evil of your doing before my eyes and cease to do evil, learn to do good, speak justice, revoke the oppressors, defend the fatherless and plead for the widow. 

I see the same message in our gospels and the teaching of St. Paul that to avoid evil and to do good requires all of us to take the goodness into the life of those who need it. These three great faiths of religion teach the same. This is of the greatest importance for my country of Burma. The last 30 months alone, the people of Myanmar have faced this genocidal military junta who have killed more than 4,400 innocent people. Unjustly arrested 34,000 people, including 800 children, elected president Win Myint and state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and destroyed completely to the ashes more than 70,000 homes, including place of worship, schools and hospitals.

Here we are talking about the unspeakable pain and suffering and that the destruction of the people of Myanmar. The last 13 months alone, genocide and military hotel have displaced nearly 2 million people and have forced more than 18 million people into the great needs of life-saving assistance.

As a result now, more than 48 million people of Myanmar are living under the poverty lines. Not only that, genocide and military hotel have been using religious as a weapon, starvation as a weapon, hunger, disease, rape as a weapon, including hate speech as weapons. The best example of the hate speech and religious being used by genocide and military in Myanmar is founded in the genocide attack of Rohingya Muslim population in Myanmar.

Here I want to make another quote by Gardner Chassmambol of Burma, “The people of my country and all countries have a moral obligation to pretend and promote dignity of all human beings. To demonize although is to live in peace, compassion and mercies are the tools eyes of my nation. Silence in the face of injustice is not a solution, it’s not acceptable.” 

Dear brothers and sisters, the last 30 months when the genocide and military junta have been bringing that destruction pain and suffering to the people of Myanmar, the NUJ, National Unity Government of Myanmar, have built more than 4 ,500 schools across the country, and have built an operational more than 160 hospitals and 250 mobile clinics across the country.

Not only that, the National Unity Government of Myanmar has created and trained more than 300 battalions of freedom fighters who are now, together with our Alliance of Freedom Fighters, have controlled Myanmar territory more than half of the country territory. Dear brothers and sisters, not only that, we have been doing every weekend internationally, and we welcome ashen 5.0 concessions on Myanmar and UN Security Council Resolution 2669 on Myanmar and Burma Earth of NDAE, of United States of America, but the people of Myanmar need implementation and the results of the crowds. 

Dear brothers and sisters, we also urge all of you to please join us, to join pro-democracy forces, and the forces who are defending freedom and democracy in Burma. Internationally, please call on your governments, international community, to suction the military of Burma, by cutting them off from international finances, international weaponry, and international political legitimacy. Dear brothers and sisters, today, once again, we like to urge all of you, we must speak for peace and work for peace and freedom. And the duty of religious leaders to speak out against hate speech and the always possible, peace with justice. 

Dear friends, freedom is always possible, human rights is always possible, where we stand together as one. Dear brothers and sisters, the people of faith in my country have been long divided by this. The language of faith speaks of peace with justice. I have hope, my country has hope, we have hope. And I ask you to share our hope to the world. Please pray for Burma, prayer changes things. Please pray for peace in Burma, and to raise your voices for the forgotten victims of this conflict in Burma.

Speak out for us, because right now our voice has not been heard in the world. Please become our voice, please become the voice for the voiceless. In your country, in your churches, in your community. Once again thank you so much indeed for giving me this opportunity. May God bless you.