US Advocacy Group Urges 'Particular Concern' Designation for Myanmar Over Revoked Christian Marriage Licenses

A U.S.-based advocacy group has called on the United States government to redesignate Myanmar as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) for severe religious freedom violations, following the military junta’s decision to revoke the marriage licenses of three Baptist pastors.

The Burma Research Institute (BRI) accused the regime’s Supreme Court in Naypyidaw of committing grave rights violations by issuing Order No. 254/2026, which stripped the clergymen of their legal authority to solemnize Christian marriages.

In a statement published Sept. 24, BRI President and CEO Zo Tum Hmung urged Washington to adopt the recommendations of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and reinstate the CPC status under the International Religious Freedom Act, citing systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations by the military regime.

The three pastors targeted by the court order are Rev. Dr. Zaw Taung of the Jerusalem Baptist Christian Church in Mandalay Region's Pyin Oo Lwin Township; Rev. Joseph (also known as U Zay Win Lin) of the Multi-Ethnic Baptist Church in Shan State's Kyaukme Township; and Rev. Saw Myint Tun of the North Okkalapa Multi-Ethnic Baptist Church in Yangon Region's Insein Township.

The junta court justified the license revocations by claiming the pastors had improperly solemnized interfaith marriages involving Buddhist women without complying with the regime's strict Law Relating to Religious Conversion and the Myanmar Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law. In multiple instances cited by the court, authorities dismissed the written declarations of faith submitted by women who had converted to Christianity.

Myanmar was continuously designated as a CPC by the U.S. State Department from 1999 through 2023 due to long-standing religious persecution by the military.

BRI is now lobbying for the immediate restoration of the designation as religious rights deteriorate further under the current junta.