The Arakan Army (AA) released three of the four young Chin hostages it abducted in southern Chin State at the end of July. The ethnic armed organization (EAO) is fighting with the Burma Army in southern Chin State and Rakhine State. Ko Kyaw Aung, secretary of Chin Internally Displaced Persons Support Committee (CISC), confirmed the release of the three hostages. “I’ve talked to them. Three Chin youths were released on the morning of August 25 and they arrived in Paletwa by the evening.” AA troops abducted the four youth, who is from Nga Tharine village, located in Kyauktaw Township, on…
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Eleven electoral candidates will contest the Minister of Chin Ethnic Affairs in Magwe Region, Chin State, during the upcoming 2020 general election. Soe Htut Oo, secretary of the Magwe Region Election Commission (EC), told Khonumthung News that eight electoral candidates fielded by political parties and three independent candidates are vying for the position. The candidates associated with the parties are Maung Lwin, United Democratic Party; Aye Tun Min, Chin Ethnics Party; Than Htay (aka Garbe), Union Solidarity and Development Party; Salai Aung Min Hlaing, Asho Chin National Party; Salai Nul Cung Eh (aka Wai Lian), National Unity Party; Salai Than…
The Chin State Election Commission has not dismissed any candidates that registered to run in the general election on November 8, citing all as meeting the necessary qualifying criteria. A total of 212 candidates initially registered and two withdrew, leaving a total of 210 candidates. The state’s election commission concluded that all were qualified. “We have already finished the checking process. All registered electoral candidates are qualified,” Lin Kyaw, secretary of the Chin State Election Commission, told Khonumthung News. Political parties and individual candidates registered on July 25, and the election commission scrutinized their applications between August 11 and 17.…
After nearly a third of voters checked their personal information on the Chin State voter list, some 30,000 people applied to correct their personal information on the state’s voter list, add their names, or remove the names of the deceased, according to the state’s election commission. More than 1,440 people have requested that they be added as eligible voters and more than 12,640 have asked that someone be removed, typically in the case of death. Some 16,000 people have asked that their name or identification number be corrected. The discrepancies date back to a collection of names by the General…
The number of female electoral candidates registered with the Chin State Election Commission (EC) to contest the 2020 general election is down from the 2015 elections. Out of 211 candidates for this year’s election, only 18 are women, representing only 9 percent of the total candidates. During the last election, 22 women contested seats in Chin State. Lin Kyaw, secretary of Chin State EC, blamed women’s low participation in politics this year on the pandemic, which he says has caused parties to hastily choose their candidates. “I expected the numbers of female candidates to increase during this general election, but…
For the upcoming elections, there are almost double the electoral candidates for Kalay District, in Burma’s Sagaing Region, compared to 2015 when the last general election happened, according to the Election Commission (EC). In 2015, there were 33 candidates but 61 registered this year. Yin Nwe Nwe, secretary of Kalay District EC, said nine of the electoral candidates are women. The candidates are contesting seats in the House of Representatives, House of Nationalities and Sagaing Regional Parliament. Eleven will contest the Minister of Chin Ethnic Affairs for the Sagaing Region. There are 19 parties competing in Kalay District. Of these,…
A total of 1,360 pigs have died from the circovirus in Chin State’s Thantlang town since April, local officials said. The pigs were killed by the Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2), for which there is a vaccine but no treatment. “There are almost no pigs left in Thantlang,” Dr. Lian Bwi, who works in Thantlang’s livestock and veterinary department, told Khonumthung News. “The pigs died within one to two weeks last month. Pigs have also died this month,” he added. PCV2 is spread from pig to pig, through contact with bodily fluids, and from pregnant sows to piglets in utero.…
Farmers have sent a letter to the Chin State government outlining their opposition to a planned dam on the Nawi Tidil river near the state capital of Hakha. The farmers say that they stand to lose 40 acres of farmland to the project. “The government told us that they would pay us compensation for our farmland. These are our paddy fields. We have worked on this farmland for so many years. We will not accept compensation,” farmer Per Huwi told Khonumthung News. The dam is supposed to distribute drinking water from the Nawi Tidil river to people in Hakha town.…
Locals in Chin State’s Tedim Township informed Burma’s Vice President Henry Van Thio of six primary demands from residents of the area during his visit last week. During a meeting at an area high school on August 12, Tedim elders spoke with the vice president about changes demanded by locals, representatives from the Zomi Youth Association told Khonumthung News. They asked that Tedim be promoted from a township to a district and that the area get connected to the national power grid, as well as better water distribution to Tedim town. They also said the area needed a 200-bed hospital…
Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD) announced plans to contest over fifty constituencies during the 2020 general elections. “We need to restore self-determination, federalism and equality,” Salai Ceu Bik Thawng, general secretary for CNLD, told Khonumthung News. “This is the time to stand for an ethnic national party. Our Chin people have lost their ethnic rights since the Panglong Agreement (1947).” CNLD is fielding candidates for seats in Chin and Rakhine states, and in Sagaing and Magwe regions. Initially, the Chin party intended to contest 48 constituencies but opted to go after more seats. According to its statement on August…