An ethnic Chin man is among eight construction workers of the Su Htoo San Company detained by the Arakan Army (AA) in Paletwa Township, the man’s family has said. Thirty-four-year-old Tun Lin Aung, a backhoe driver, is from Lake-kon Ward (1), six miles from Paletwa town. Su Htoo San is constructing a road between Paletwa and Zorinpwi, in India’s Mizoram State. The road is part of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha previously told Khonumthung that, for security reasons, they were detaining people from the construction site who they suspected of having ties to the military,…
Author: Editor
Around 1,000 people in Kalay, Sagaing Region, gathered on Sunday morning demanding to keep an article in the 2008 Constitution regarding presidential requirements. The protest was led by the Kalay Township National Forces (KTNF). The KTNF was jointly organized by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the National Unity Party, ultranationalist Buddhist organization Ma Ba Tha, and the Kalay Farmers Association. The KTNF protesters were calling to preserve Article 59(f) of the 2008 Constitution, which states the requirements for individuals to become the President or Vice President of Burma. It says that people who serve in these roles…
Three civilians are still missing following clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA) in the Peechaung area of Chin State’s Paletwa Township in October of last year. Sixty-year-old Kho Lo, 14-year-old Benjamin, and 15-year-old Maung Kyaw Naing disappeared six months ago when fighting broke out. A local pastor told Khonumthung that they had gone into the jungle to search for edible plants, and were never seen again. “They disappeared on the day that the Tatmadaw and AA forces clashed in the jungle… There is no witness [who knows] what’s happened to them,” the pastor, who is close…
By Larnun – The construction of a road between southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township and Zorinpwi in India’s Mizoram has been suspended following activities by the Arakan Army (AA) disrupting the project. AA soldiers reportedly detained construction workers from the Su Htoo San Company and set fire to vehicles and materials. “We temporarily stopped construction because tractors were set on fire. In addition, they arrested 13 company staff. They released five workers. Eight are still in their hands. We reported it to the respective authorities,” Chin State transportation minister Shui Htee O told Khonumthung. The road is part of the…
The Union government will build 65 telecommunications towers in six of Chin State’s nine townships in order to improve the internet access and telephone service in the region, state government representatives have said. According to Chin State’s transportation and roads minister Shui Htee O, the towers will be constructed this financial year. “The Union minister and deputy minister told us that the Union government would build 65 mobile communication towers. It’s essential for this to be done in our Chin State,” he told Khonumthung. Nineteen towers are reportedly proposed for Paletwa Township, 18 in Matupi, nine each in Tonzang and…
By Larnun – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Chin National Front (CNF) met last week to discuss the provision of assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs) in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township. Among the attendees of the March 28 talks were resident representative of the ICRC in Burma Stephan Sakalian, law and policy adviser U Moe Myint Aung, and Dr. Shui Khur, Associate General Secretary (1) of the CNF. The meeting was held at the Joint Monitoring Committee’s office in Yangon. “The ICRC has already opened offices in conflict-affected areas, but there is no ICRC…
By Larnun – Around 70 homes and religious buildings were damaged last week when a heavy rainstorm hit Matupi Township in southern Chin State. The storm occurred at around 11:00 p.m. on March 31. Thirteen of the damaged houses were in Matupi’s Lawng Bang ward, five in Sang Bawng ward, two in Khobwe, and two in Ngalar. According to Salawng, the administrator of Ngalar ward, a church also collapsed. “The wind was so strong. I have never had this kind of experience. I thought it was like a Nargis storm that was hitting us,” he told Khonumthung, referring to the…
Thousands of civilians displaced from fighting between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army in southern Chin State don’t have enough food, medicine and educational opportunities for their children. A total of 2,039 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from 434 residences from 11 villages in Paletwa township are trapped in this hellish limbo. They all want to go home but with fighting getting worse very few have been able to return to their villages. Most of the IDPs are sheltering in Meeza and Shin Letwa villages. “They mainly need rice,” said Wei Tang, from Paletwa Social Volunteer group. The relief group is…
Chin State has the highest rates of malnutrition for children under age five out of all of Burma’s 14 states and regions, the Ministry of Health and Sports reported. The ministry undertook a survey of malnutrition among children in the country aged six to 59 months from 2017-2018 and published the results in February. According to the survey, 40.3 percent of children in Chin State are suffering from malnutrition or stunted growth—the highest percentage in Burma. Director of the department of public health in Chin State, Dr. Tin Maung Swe, told Khonumthung that poverty is to blame. “We lack an…
The Champai Vehicles Association has indefinitely blocked the transport of imported goods from Burma’s No. 2 Border Trading Camp near Rihkhawdar, Chin State, into Zokhawthar, in Mizoram’s Champai District. Imported materials and local products from Burma are typically transported through this route to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram State, through Zokhawthar and Champhai. These goods are then sent onwards to other Mizoram districts. The March 26 decision to block products coming from across the border in Rihkhawdar occurred after a dispute between the respective transportation associations of Zokhawthar and Champai. The Zokhawthar Vehicle Association had managed the rotation of…