Public festivals and other events will be barred from taking place in Kalay, Sagaing Region until the end of April in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a statement from the township’s General Administration Department (GAD) has announced. Kalay Township GAD officer Nyi Nyi said that the order includes trainings, workshops, and the annual water festival, Thingyan. “The President’s Office already released a statement about the closure of all festive activities. We released a local order,” the officer told Khonumthung News of the statement put out on March 17. “We called up all village headmen and told them…
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The Chin National Front (CNF) has called on both the Burma Army and Arakan Army (AA) to immediately stop fighting on Chin national land. The call came during the CNF’s seventh conference held at the organization’s Victoria headquarters from March 16-19. A statement released by the group said that the Arakanese troops were not to be based in Chin territory, in accordance with the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), to which the CNF is a signatory. “In the NCA agreement with the government, there must only be the Burma Army and the Chin National Army on Chin land,” CNF general secretary…
More than 2,000 locals have fled clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA) in Paletwa Township in southern Chin State and are seeking refuge in the town of Samee. Government and AA troops have been engaged in intensifying clashes along the Mee Chaung River in Paletwa since March 16. According to the local People Hope Organization, there are now 2,265 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Samee. Civil society organizations in the area say that the IDPs are in need of emergency aid supplies, including basic foods such as rice, cooking oil and salt. “The Chin State government…
The Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD) issued a strong condemnation of the Burma Army’s recent air strikes on villages in Paletwa Township, Chin State, leading to mass displacement and more than 20 deaths. In a statement released on March 15, the second day of the attacks by fighter jets and helicopters, the CNLD said that there have been no movement of Arakan Army (AA) troops—the organization with which the Burma Army has been engaging in intensifying clashes in the region—around the villages that were targeted in the air strikes. Pu Noe Thang Kap, chairperson of the CNLD, said that…
At least 21 civilians have been killed and 28 injured after two days of air attacks by the Burma Army on villages in Chin State’s Paletwa Township. The Tatmadaw launched an air strike on the villages of Meik Sawa 2 and Meik Sawa 3, located between the towns of Paletwa and Samee, on March 14. In these attacks, at least 12 villagers were killed and 15 more wounded. The attacks continued on March 15 on the villages of Wetma and Pyine Tain, also in Paletwa Township. At least 8 villagers were killed and 12 injured in Wetma, and one more…
The facilitation of the Coronavirus in South Korea has raised the concern of human rights violation in the country as the attention from the Korean society and international media to a religious organization called “Shincheonji Church” was paid with the increasing virus confirmation cases from the church members focused in Daegu. Some South Korean local governments attributed the responsibility to the church and many Korean media reports aimed at Shincheonji without fact-checking information. NGOs around the world began to make their voices regarding the need for international support to warn human rights concerns in the country. United States Commission on…
A Burma Army air attack on Meik Sawa village in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township on Saturday afternoon has killed 11 civilians, according to residents of the community. Meik Sawa is home to more than 70 families and is nine miles from Paletwa town. The air strike was carried out at 11:00 a.m. “A jet fighter repeatedly flew over our village. The jet fighter unexpectedly attacked our village without any reason,” Meik Sawa resident Lai Pa told Khonumthung. “The jet fighter attacked our village with two missiles. Eleven villagers were killed and six people have been injured,” he said, adding…
Three Chin families escaping fighting in northern Rakhine State arrived in Hakha, capital of Chin State, this Thursday. Han Thein told Khonumthung News after the Arakan Army (AA) based itself near their village Derlet Chaung, located in Ann township, they had to leave. The presence of the AA troops soon attracted the attention of the Burma Army. When fighting ensued Han Thein’s family and the other 49 families from Derlet Chaung went into exile. “We couldn’t bring anything with us when we moved to Ann town,” he said. Without food, money or shelter it was a tough go, Han Thein…
The Khonumthung News talked with Khine Thukha, spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA), about the food crisis affecting Paletwa township in southern Chin State. Residents are struggling amidst a severe food shortage after supply lines have been cut off from fighting between the AA and Burma Army for over a month. Prices of rice and other essential rations available in the township have become exorbitant. The state government and community groups are trying to get the rations to the famished township but fighting that has intensified in recent weeks have hindered these efforts. With the Kalandan river route from Kyauktaw…
The Rih border crossing in Chin State is still open but authorities aren’t taking any chances and started checking all travellers coming from India’s Mizoram State for symptoms of COVID-19, recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Rih to Zohkawdar bridge is the last border crossing open on the Chin-Mizo border. District judge Mr S. L. Naveen closed all the other checkpoints in Champhai district in Mizoram on Tuesday to curb the spread of the virus that has infected over 100,000 in over 100 countries, according to WHO. So far, Burma hasn’t confirmed a single case…