Five Arakanese men were arrested in Chin State’s Tedim Township near the Indian border on Saturday, accused of violating immigration law and suspected of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA). Col Han Win Aung, Chin State’s security and border affairs minister, confirmed the arrests to Khonumthung News but would not share further details because of an ongoing investigation to determine whether the men are members of the AA. “It’s true they are under arrest. They have Indian ID cards. They got Indian citizenship. It’s possible they will be charged with immigration act,” he said, adding that the men’s Burmese…
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Locals have complained that a new sports stadium in Chin State’s Tedim Township is unsafe and too costly, according to local officials. The Myoma Stadium is located in Khai Kam town and the construction of the venue was recently completed by Meeba Metta Company. Lian Dal, the administrator of Kham Kam’s first quarter, described his visit to the stadium, which occurred after the project had finished, upon the company’s instructions. He had no access to the design plans in advance, he said “When we went to see the sports grounds, the concrete boundary was built four feet away from the…
The bus station on the Chin State-Mizoram border is set to open at the end of September. Rihkhawdar town will open a new bus station on September 29 with the aim to reduce traffic in the border town and to serve as a transportation hub for the rest of Chin State’s Falam District. According to Lalpeklawma, deputy head of Rihkhawdar’s information and public relations department, the land for the station—just over one acre—was donated by local man Mawite, since there was no budget to purchase it. The township’s municipal council allocated the construction of the project to the Khau Te…
‘We must take serious action against the rapists,’ said the state’s Minister of Social Affairs. Four incidents involving the rape of child have been reported in Chin State so far this year, according to the state’s Minister of Social Affairs Pau Lun Min Thang, who wants the government to take such cases seriously. “I didn’t hear anything about child rape cases in Chin State in the past. [Now] there have been four child rape cases that have happened within five to six months,” he told Khonumthung News. “We are so worried about it. Why does it happen? In my opinion,…
‘The major challenge is the package deal linking national equality, self-determination, basic principles of federalism, non-secession, and the presence of only one army,’ Pu Zing Cung said. Three years after the Chin National Front’s (CNF) signing of Burma’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), significant obstacles remain in implementing the accord, its chairperson said. NCA signatory ethnic armed groups held a summit in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from September 8-11 to discuss future strategic action and to identify common ground. CNF chair Pu Zing Cung served as the chairperson of the meeting on the second day of the summit. “We have faced many…
After meeting Chin representatives in New Delhi, two UNHCR delegates will go to Chin State to learn more about the current conditions there. After meeting representatives of the Chin community in New Delhi, India, a delegation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has agreed to visit Chin State to learn more about the current conditions in the region. On Friday, the UNHCR Chief of Mission in India met with six leadersfrom the Chin Refugee Committee (CRC). The Chin group was among those that protested a UN decision in June to no longer grant refugee status or resettlement…
Members of the Government Technological Institute’s student union oppose plans to build court headquarters on the college’s land. Members of the student union at the Government Technological Institute (GTI) in Hakha, Chin State have opposed plans by the state government to build court headquarters on the college’s land. The student union released a statement on Monday condemning the move, which would see a large “modern” court constructed in front of the GTI building. The students pointed out that there were many other available locations for the project elsewhere in the Chin State capital and that they do not want construction…
The 27-year-old man attempted to extort money from the owners of five furniture shops in Kalay Township. A 27-year-old man was arrested last week in Kalay Township, Sagaing Region, after extorting money from furniture shops and claiming to be a policeman. Ye Tun, of Yan Myo Aung village, introduced himself to owners of five small businesses in three Kalay villages as a “special police inspector” on August 22 and asked for money. He was arrested after one shop owner, Rodin Liang, questioned his line and then reported the suspicious behavior to a village headman. “[Ye Tun] arrived at my home…
The government funding will take over from the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust in June 2019. An ongoing assistance program for pregnant women and infants under age two will continue with government funding after the current term runs out next year, officials said. According to the Chin State social welfare minister Pau Lu Hmin Than, the program began in June 2017 and is set to continue until June 2019 under the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT). It is after this point that the government will take over the project, which provides 15,000 kyats (US$9.80) per month to pregnant…
The Union Parliament opted not to make Chin National Day a national holiday, but one MP says it is up to state lawmakers to recognize it locally. Lawmakers may have an opportunity to decide whether Chin National Day should be recognized as a holiday in Chin State, according to a member of state parliament. The Union Parliament in Burma opted not to formalize Chin National Day—February 20—as a national holiday in the country when the issue was raised in the legislature in March. Tedim Constituency (1) MP Than Dai Uk—who is a member of the Union Solidarity and Development…