By Moe Kyaw – The annual Zofest will take place this year in the village of Reiek, in India’s Mizoram State, from December 4-7. The event is held every year to bring together ethnic Zo (Chin) people from India, Bangladesh, and Burma. A National League for Democracy Lower House parliamentarian from Kalay, Sagaing Region, will attend the event. Ebenezer Khawtinsiami—also known as Daw Aye Aye Mu—has been seeking help from officers within Parliament for her visa to be able to go to the festival. “I am very serious about going. I have been trying to get a visa,” Ebenezer Khawtinsiami…
Author: Editor
The Chin National Front (CNF) agreed in a recent meeting of its leadership to keep moving forward in Burma’s current peace process, which centers on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). The decision was made at the CNF’s 10th Central Executive Committee members meeting held at its Camp Victoria headquarters from November 14-18. Khonumthung News recently spoke to CNF General Secretary (3) Pu Thet Ni regarding this matter, who stated that there is no alternative path except for the NCA. “CNF wants political negotiations and political dialogue. The NCA is a part of it,” he said. “Therefore, we will stand by…
By Lalnun – The second conference of the Chin Women Organizations network is taking place in Hakha, Chin State, from November 28-30. According to Chin Women Organizations Network chairperson Sui Thluai Thang, conference participants will discuss women’s empowerment and development and advancement of the ethnic Chin people. “We are going to discuss what we can do for our people and our state,” Daw Sui Thluai Thang said. “We are very close and we are working together for our ethnic people. Participants will hold active discussions in the conference, so our state and our people will benefit.” During the three-day event,…
By Moe Kyaw – Chin political organization the Chin National Front (CNF) will enter discussions with UN agencies and other relevant actors to address difficulties facing Chin refugees, an official from the organization said. The CNF’s General Secretary (3) Pu Htet Ni told Khonumthung News that his group had been “closely monitoring” matters concerning Chin refugees. According to a June decision by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the agency will no longer resettle or designate refugee status for people from Chin State, describing it as no longer being an active conflict area. Protection of Chin refugees abroad will…
The Indian government has offered US$5 million toward the development of Chin State’s education, health care, and transportation sectors, according to state officials. Chin State municipal minister U Soe Htet told Khonumthung News that India promised to deliver the funds for three consecutive years. In a Hakha meeting with Chin State government representatives on November 21, Indian delegates including Indian ambassador to Burma H.E. Vikram Misri and chief counselor Dr. Kumar Praveen pledged support. “They will help us upgrade roads, education and the health care sector. They will help us to build schools and health care centers,” U Soe Htet…
Locals are concerned about the construction of hotels in Chin State’s Tedim Township, following a news leak revealing an application for permission by major companies to develop the area. According to the leak, the Tin Win Tun and Myat Noe Thu companies aim to establish a “hotel zone” in the western part of Tiangen village in Khawsak village tract. In 2012, Tin Win Tun reportedly got permission to temporarily use a land plot between Zozan and Sozan villages in Tedim to store oil for use in vehicles, as well as to keep heavy machinery and construction vehicles. The company was…
A Hakha-based women’s organization has questioned government allocation of funding to natural disaster victims in Chin State in 2015. The Hakha-Thar Women’s Organization—called Hakha-Thar Nu Bu—released a statement on November 17 regarding assistance provided in the wake of flooding and cyclone damage that occurred more than three years ago. The organization itself was founded in response to the natural disasters of 2015, in the 1,000-residence Hakha-Thar ward. “Funds for natural disaster victims in 2015 did not directly go to the real victims,” said Pi Man Lang, of Hakha-Thar Nu Bu. “There is a lot of assistance that was wasted. The…
A judge, lawyer and three police officers from Chin State’s Mindat Township have been reported to Burma’s anti-corruption commission. Referring them on November 5 were five civil society organizations (CSOs) and an alleged victim. The case in question involved a motorbike accident near Mindat public hospital in 2017 involving two men: Hung Ling Ngai and Maung Thang Ki Hung. Both filed a court case, leading to Hung Ling Ngai being detained. Mindat CSOs wrote a report accusing Judge Tun Tun Naing and lawyer Aung Soe Thein of extorting 200,000 kyats (US$125) each from Hung Ling Ngai while he was in…
By Moe Kyaw – A woman from Chin State charged with illegal entry to India in the border state of Mizoram says that she left Burma fearing for her personal security—others say it was to avoid paying a debt. Tuan Kil, who is being detained in Aizawl’s central prison, appeared in court on Monday and spoke to Khonumthung News about the circumstances that led to her arrest on October 24. Tuan Kil has been accused by a man named Dr. Shur Hein of borrowing—and not repaying—400 million kyats (more than US$250,000) and of fleeing the country to avoid repercussions. She…
By Moe Kyaw – The Chin Relief Society hopes to open branch offices in all of Mizoram State’s eight districts next year, the organization’s chairperson said last week. Pu K. Thangkhuma, the head of the group, said in a general meeting in Aizawl town on November 10 that this expansion would take place in order to help ethnic Chin people arriving across the Indian border in Mizoram. It would also counter actions by government and non-governmental groups which might be harmful to the community, he explained. “We will begin our implementation of the plan in early 2019. Our organization doesn’t have…