SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – Christian Freedom International (CFI), a Michigan-based relief organization, has presented its 2008 Freedom Award to U.S. First Lady Laura Bush in recognition of her ongoing efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Burma.

Christian Freedom International Presents 2008 Freedom Award to First Lady Laura Bush

In recent years, Mrs. Bush has become an outspoken advocate for the hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees who have greatly suffered as a result of the country’s unending civil war. For nearly 60 years, Burma’s military government has enforced a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign against many of its own citizens, particularly the Karen, that has included the use of rape, murder, forced conscription into the Burmese army, human trafficking, and widespread destruction of homes and crops. Even as thousands of Burma’s citizens continue to hide in the mountains or jungles, or live out meager existences in refugee camps, the crisis remains as one of the least known tragic events in the worldwide community.