There a saying in Burmese, “သူခိုးက လူပြန်ဟစ်”, which means the thief is pointing the innocent people as thieves by joining himself in shouting “thief! thief!.” As this saying goes, in this political situation, people are afraid of being robbed and fearing for their lives, whereas the evil ones roam freely in the society. As one of the costs of coup, Myanmar is facing a free fall society collapsing. Out of desperation many families turn into stealing and robberies for survival that looting and robbery cases are on the rise.
There is no law enforcement to protect the people. The police and military are supposed to be the protector of its people. However, since the coup they have lost the people’s trust by making countless atrocities and crimes against its own people.
“I did not complain to the relevant authorities because I was afraid that the criminals would find me out and risk my life,” said the woman, who was stabbed and robbed of her motorcycle. “In this day and age, who can we rely on? We have to rely on God and ourselves, and then we put it on the internet so that our colleagues and friends can stay vigilant and will not face dangers like me,” she said.
Recently, a trishaw cyclist was killed on broad day light at Hledan, Yangon by a group of pick pocketers because the other day he disturbed their activities by helping their member caught during looting somebody’s mobile phone. A local said, “He helped others yesterday. When the bad guys came back and killed him today, nobody helped him. They came with knives and sticks that nobody dares to help him.”
Prayer Requests
Let’s pray that God will protect Myanmar families from dangers. Pray that justice and stability will return to this land. Law and Order will be restored. Pray that the Myanmar families may have hearts to choose righteous means for survival and not the violence and evil deeds even at life’s worst circumstances.