A shipment of rice that was sent to Chin State’s Paletwa township falls short of what’s needed to feed residents for the month, according to a civil society organization. Salai John Pai Nang, from the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee for Chin IDPs (RRCCI), said the rice sent by the government, civil society organizations and private donors won’t last the famished township more than a few days. Fighting between the Burma Army and Arakan Army (AA) has blocked water and land routes to the strife-affected township, Salai John Pai Nang said. Now it is “not only the IDPs (internally displaced persons)…
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The government extended the lockdown in a town in Chin State, the location of Burma’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, for another seven days. Keptel, in Tedim township, has been under lockdown since March 26, after a 36-year-old man that returned from the US attended a prayer service before he was to be married. The seven-day extension came into effect on April 21. At least four people who had contact with the bridegroom, including his mother that also returned from the US at the same time as the man, tested positive. The latest case on April 20 was a male from…
An ethnic Khumi group accused the Arakan Army (AA) of kidnapping a politician, a pastor and another civilian, and threatening others that are helping displaced villagers in Paletwa town in southern Chin State. According to a statement by Khumi Affairs Coordinating Committee (KACC), AA abducted Aung Pa, 40, and Len Van, 48, in the evening on April 10. Myint Maung, from the Paletwa municipal committee, was taken in the evening on April 12. “We released the statement because we wanted everyone to know about it. AA shouldn’t kidnap civilians,” Saw Mya, the chairman of KACC, told Khonumthung News. Threatening Chin…
An individual that stayed with a man in Kalay in Sagaing Region, who was reportedly Burma’s first confirmed coronavirus case, is the country’s 74th confirmed case. Authorities immediately quarantined the house after test results came back from the National Health Laboratory (NHL) in Yangon.“We’ve already locked down some wards and streets,” Khin Maung Cho, the general administration development officer for Kalay district, told Khonumthung News. The man thought to be Burma’s ‘zero’ coronavirus case is from Tedim Township, located in Chin State, next to Sagaing Region. Authorities locked down his entire village to prevent an outbreak after it was confirmed…
Four parliamentarians from Chin State’s Teddim and Tonzang townships have demanded that the government set up an emergency response committee to COVID-19 in their townships, and to invest greater resources in Teddim’s hospital. There have been three confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Tedim Township—allegedly Burma’s first patient in the pandemic, as well as that man’s mother and the owner of a house where they were staying. All have sought treatment at Tedim’s public hospital. Lower House Tedim MP Pu Cin Sian Thang and Tedim’s Upper House MP Pu Gin Kam Lian, along with Tonzang’s Lower and Upper House MPs,…
Khonumthung News recently interviewed Chin National Front (CNF) spokesperson Salai Htet Ni, who is also the organization’s Joint General Secretary 2. He spoke about ongoing armed conflict in Chin State, humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs), challenges regarding the distribution of food rations, and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. What preventative measures are the CNF taking in its headquarters and military camps, regarding COVID-19? We are cooperating with village headmen, youth leaders and religious organizations in our territory. We keep a record of travelers in and out of our area. We try to minimize travel in our area.…
The mother of Burma’s COVID-19 patient ‘zero’ tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS) confirmed the 58-year-old woman from Keptel, Tedim township, located in Chin State, had the coronavirus yesterday (April 10). It’s unclear how the mother and son contracted it. In early March, after returning from the US, the son became sick and tested positive for the virus. Authorities immediately locked down the entire village to prevent an outbreak. The mother, her son’s wife and the rest of their family were placed under home quarantine for two-weeks. Pau Lum Ming Thang, the Chin…
At least seven civilians were killed and eight injured in an air attack by the Burma Army on a village in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township on Tuesday, a local parliamentarian said. The strike followed clashes between government forces and the Arakan Army, and hit the village of Nang Chaungwa, located 10 miles from Paletwa town on the Paletwa-Kyauktaw road, which has been closed. The Burma Army’s combat helicopters reportedly dropped bombs on the community between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. “Seven villagers were killed on the spot. Eight villagers were injured in the air attack. Some houses were burned down,”…
The Chin State government is building 150 huts for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the town of Sami in Paletwa Township in an effort to relieve crowding amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson said. Yet the new shelters will house just a fraction of those displaced, according to civil society estimates of those who have fled clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA). The Relief and Rehabilitation Committee for Chin IDPs reported that there are 2,612 IDPs from 630 families in Sami town. In nearby Paletwa town, the same organization estimates that there are 1,986 IDPs from…
Chin refugees in India say that they are facing severe food shortages following a nationwide lockdown imposed by the government in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown has been in place since March 24. Salai Cung Dawt, who is in charge of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), said that donors have contributed 14 bags of rice to assist refugees who are struggling to find food. Chin Refugees in New Delhi, India. “Thirty-one people from 11 families have nothing to eat. They told me they are starving. I wrote about it on my social media page. Some…