・ミャンマー国軍がカヤ州のカトリック諸施設を攻撃、ロイコーの診療所襲い、患者を放置、医師、看護師など18人逮捕

　アジアの有力カトリック・メディア、UCA News が23日付けで伝えたところによると、ミャンマー国軍の200人以上の部隊が22日、カトリック教徒が多く住むカヤ州の州都ロイコーのにある「王であるキリスト」大聖堂の施設内にある司教館と教会経営の診療所などを急襲した。

　診療所には、コロナ感染者4人を含む約40人の患者が収容されていたが、兵士たちは彼らを追い出したうえ、医師4人、看護師、薬剤師、ボランティアなど18人を逮捕したうえ、医療設備などの記録を奪った。司祭1人と２人のシスターも、逮捕されて尋問所に連行される彼らに同行した、という。

以下、UCA Newsの英語原文

“One group after another checked and searched the buildings including the bishop’s house at least three times,” a church official said. More soldiers were deployed and roads leading to the cathedral compound were blocked during the raid.

Church officials said the security forces checked all the buildings inside the church compound from around 9am to 4pm and also broke into the room of the social communications officer.

“We are carrying out charitable works and weren’t involved in any wrongdoing. We have no idea why they raided us and what they searched for,” Father Francis Soe Naing, chancellor of Loikaw Diocese, told UCA News.

He said the raids caused fear and insecurity among patients and some internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had taken refuge in the cathedral compound after fleeing their homes when fighting intensified in May.

It’s not uncommon for the military to kill civilians, burn homes and make arbitrary arrests in the predominantly Christian region, church sources said.

At least 10 parishes in Loikaw Diocese have been severely affected by the recent conflict, displacing more than 100,000 people including Catholics.

The Church is responding to the needs of around 70,000 IDPs and providing humanitarian assistance in the form of health services, food and blankets, a priest said.