Two people from Chin State were arrested across the Indian border in Mizoram for smuggling gold, with police seizing more than US$330,000 worth of gold bars. According to Mizoram daily newspaper Banglaini, the arrests occurred on October 18, and were a joint effort between the Aizawl regional Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and a military battalion based in Assam. The two men were reportedly traveling in a maxicab from Aizawl in Mizoram to Assam State. Police said that the 45 gold bars in the men’s possession were headed for Guwahati town. The men arrested included 19-year-old Than Thawn Mung and…
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The 14 people were apprehended for trying to cross the Myanmar-India Friendship Bridge outside of official hours. Twelve Bangladeshi nationals and two Burmese guides were arrested in Rihkhawdar, Chin State early Thursday morning, according to the state’s information ministry. The Ministry of Information’s deputy director Pu Lalpeklawma said that the individuals were apprehended near the No. 2 trading zone at around 4 a.m. for entering Burma illegally—two hours before the Myanmar-India Friendship Bridge opens. “They entered Burma through the iron frame of the bridge. It’s an illegal entry. That's why we arrested them,” the deputy minister told Khonumthung News. All…
Government departments will cooperate with local civil society organizations and young people to draft a one-year plan to advance youth development in Rihkhawdar, Chin State. The township’s Information and Public Relations Department and educational department are on board with the plan. According to the information ministry’s deputy director Pu Lalpeklawma, the project will span the 2018-2019 financial year, which begins this months and concludes in September of next year. “The main objective of this project is for youth to have more knowledge, to develop good habits of reading, to be good citizens, and to study well around their environment,” Pu…
China’s ambassador to Burma met the Chin State government last week in Hakha to discuss China-backed transportation and hydroelectric projects. H.E. Hong Liang met with the state government delegation on the evening of October 11 in his first trip to Chin State, before leaving the following day. “We mainly discussed assistance for upgrading roads. Our roads are really bad…they said that the roads need to be upgraded,” U Soe Htet, a Chin State government spokesperson and municipal minister, told Khonumthung News. “They have been building the [New] Silk Road for expansion of their businesses. They said they will help us…
Plans to erect a statue of the late Burmese independence icon Gen Aung San have been postponed in the Chin State town of Thantlang following local objections. Thantlang’s municipal committee halted plans to set up the statue after local civil society organizations and student groups informed authorities that they would demonstrate against the project on October 15. Thantlang residents have opposed the stationing of a statue of Gen Aung San in the town, suggesting that it would be more fitting to have an ethnic Chin historical figure memorialized there. Aung San, the father of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi,…
A delegation from the World Bank met Chin State government representatives on Tuesday to discuss a project to upgrade the highway connecting Kalay, in Sagaing, with Chin State’s Falam and Hakha townships. “We want this road to be built as soon as possible. They haven’t completed technical matters including design […] and studying the environmental issues. Construction will be kicked off after the completion of those studies,” U Shwe Htee O, Chin State’s transportation minister, told Khonumthung News. The officials, which included World Bank environmental specialist Martin Fodor, also met representatives of Chin civil society organizations in Hakha to discuss…
There are 30,055 eligible voters for the upcoming by-elections in Matupi and Kanpetlet townships, according to the Chin State Election Commission. The voter list has been posted in the two Chin State townships since October 1, said U Lin Kyaw, the election commission’s secretary. There are 17,604 people registered to vote in Matupi and 12,451 in Kanpetlet. The by-elections are scheduled for November 3. “We are preparing for secret voting. All eligible voters must see the voter list. I don’t want any eligible voters missing from the voter list. The village level commission and ballot office staff will monitor and…
Funds for the construction of two statues of the late Gen Aung San will not come from Burma’s national budget, according to Chin State’s Minister of Development Affairs, Electricity and Industry. The copper statues of the Burmese independence icon, which will be located in Hakha and Htantlang townships in Chin State, will be paid for by private donors. “We will not use the national budget for it—we will only spend money from public and private donations,” Minister U Soe Htet told Khonumthung News, adding that one donor has already committed 30,000,000 kyats (US$19,650) to the project. Locals in Htantlang have…
All Chin veterans of World War II who served in the British army will be provided financial assistance from a UK-based non-profit in recognition of their service. The annual grants, which are 200,000 kyats (US$125), will be given to both former soldiers or their widows starting in November. The program is run by the charity Help for Forgotten Allies (H4FA), which recognizes the contributions of ethnic minorities in Burma to the British fight against the Japanese in the country from 1942-1945. The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has worked with H4FA to provide assistance to around 100 Chin veterans specifically…
A 28-year-old woman was killed after stepping on a landmine while searching for yams in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township last week. Hpyit Lite was from Nga Tein village in the upper part of Paletwa’s Pee Chaung area. She is survived by a five-year-old daughter. According to Peter Lwi Lu, editor of the local Khumi Media Group, Hpyit Lite traveled with five of her friends last Thursday to the base of the Khayu mountain, 30 minutes from her village, to look for yams. She was pronounced dead after stepping on a landmine. It remains unknown which armed group planted the…