A driver who tested positive for COVID-19 at a medical checkpoint in Sagaing Region is the 25th patient receiving medical treatment in the town of Kalay. Nyi Nyi Zaw, the head of Kalay District Public Relations and Information Department, told Khonumthung News that the 23-year-old driver from Nyaung Pintha ward was detected using a rapid test kit at the Hkai Kam checkpoint. Most of the patients were infected domestically, he said, and they’re all doing fine. Nine are receiving medical treatment at the Herbal Medical Hospital, while the rest are at Eiksup ICU Ward, which is located in public housing.…
Author: Editor
Twelve civil society organizations have called on the Paletwa Township legal system to take action against the perpetrator in the rape of a 23-year-old visually impaired woman who is also an internally displaced person. The woman was sexually assaulted in the Sami IDP camp on November 17, allegedly by a 40-year-old man who has since been placed under arrest and transferred to Paletwa town. “We want justice for her. This woman is a disabled person,” Pwee Pwee of the Sami Chin Women’s Organization told Khonumthung News. Women’s organizations were among the 12 organizations to sign an open letter to the…
Locals in Paletwa, southern Chin State, say that the town has run out of COVID-19 preventative materials, even as new cases of the virus appear in the area and populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain particularly vulnerable. “We cannot buy masks in Paletwa at the moment. We provided masks to IDPs in the past. Now they are gone,” Zarni, who is helping IDPs in the town, said. “They were one-use masks, so they could not wash them and reuse them. We provided a bottle of hand sanitizer to each IDP family. That’s gone, too.” All roads to Paletwa have…
Health officials detected four cases of COVID-19 among individuals staying at a quarantine center in Paletwa town, located in southern Chin State, on Wednesday, November 19. Awng Law Har, General Administration Development Officer for Paletwa Township, told Khonumthung News that all of the cases are students returning from Yangon. “We sent them to stay in a quarantine center at Myoma Primary School where they tested negative for COVID-19. Three days later, during the second test, they tested positive.” A total of 31 were sent to the facility, with others returning from northern Shan State and Rakhine State. Officials are facing…
Soe Htet, a spokesperson for the Chin State government, said he’s ready to assume the role of chief minister for the state should the National League for Democracy (NLD) decide to appoint him. The incumbent party appears to have won 36 of Chin State’s 39 constituencies in yet another landslide victory, both in state and nationally. “I’m trying my best to serve our people and our state,” Soe Htet explained. “I have both domestic and international experience. I understand what our region needs. If the government appoints me, I am prepared for the position.” Some predicted on social media that…
Health officials detected four cases of COVID-19 among individuals staying at a quarantine center in Paletwa town, located in southern Chin State, on Wednesday, November 19. Awng Law Har, General Administration Development Officer for Paletwa Township, told Khonumthung News that all of the cases are students returning from Yangon. “We sent them to stay in a quarantine center at Myoma Primary School where they tested negative for COVID-19. Three days later, during the second test, they tested positive.” A total of 31 were sent to the facility, with others returning from northern Shan State and Rakhine State. Officials are facing…
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) blamed the government for the fact that many people in southern Chin State couldn’t participate in the recent national election in Burma. CHRO field director Ko Tayya told Khonumthung News because only 20 percent of Paletwa Township could vote, it demonstrates the weakness of the government, which was unable to uphold the rights of the people. It could be related to “security” or “transportation”, he said, but it doesn’t change the fact that many have “lost their rights to choose someone to represent them” in Parliament. And the government is “fully responsible” for this.…
Villagers displaced from the conflict in Chin State’s Paletwa received blankets and mosquito nets from a local non-governmental organization (NGO). Ko Saw Pai, from Family World, told Khonumthung News that internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Paletwa town were allowed to choose between a blanket, mosquito net, flashlight or bamboo mat. With frigid weather approaching, most chose blankets. When they fled their homes during Burma Army offenses or from fighting with Arakan Army (AA), most couldn’t bring anything with them, Ko Saw Pai explained. “While we want to help everyone, this time we can only help 614 families,” he said. The…
Khonumthung News spoke with Salai Htet Ni, spokesperson for Chin National Front (CNF), about his thoughts on the National League for Democracy (NLD) landslide victory during the recent national election in Burma and what implications it may hold for the peace process. The incumbent party secured 396 seats in Parliament, requiring only 333 to win the election. What are your thoughts about CNF’s election results for the 2020 general election? Can you provide your analysis for Chin State? Actually, I’d rather not analyze the entire race in Chin State. A total of 11 political parties contested the election in the…
Some 2,000 bags of rice arrived in Paletwa this week after being sent by the World Food Program (WFP) to feed internally displaced persons (IDPs) after an ongoing food shortage in the southern Chin State township. Chin State government spokesperson and municipal minister Soe Htet said that the rice delivery had arrived in the town of Paletwa on Sunday, and more rice from Burma’s Red Cross had been transported from Pakokku in Magwe Region. He added that these organizations would observe the situation on the ground in the neighboring town of Sami to determine the assistance needed by IDPs there,…