With the Indian rupee dropping, money traders on the Burma-India border in Chin State have been put out of work. “All exporters have stopped doing business at the border. We can’t operate with the current exchange rates,” Awmtea, a business person from Rihhkawdar, told Khonumthung News. The rupee used to be 19:1 against the kyat but now it’s only 15:1. The devaluation has killed imports from Burma to India and put exporters from Burma out of business. Since last week, no money traders were working on the border. Cash transfer companies operating between India’s Mizoram State and Kalay in Sagaing…
Author: Editor
A 30-year-old man and three homes were destroyed in a Burma Army air raid on a village in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township this week, Khonumthung News has learned. Government forces clashed with the Arakan Army (AA) near Pui Wong village on March 4. Following the battle, the Burma Army’s air force launched an air attack on AA troops on the evening of the same day. The village is located on the banks of the Kaladan River between Paletwa in Chin State and Kyauktaw Township in Rakhine State, an area where armed conflict has intensified in recent months. “AA troops…
Unless the Union government is able to ensure security in Paletwa Township, it will be impossible to continue the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project, the Chin State government has said.
No trade has been taking place between Paletwa in Chin State and Kyauktaw in Rakhine State due to the continued suspension of ferry service along the waterways connecting the towns. Locals in Paletwa say they are facing shortages of rice, cooking oil, salt and gasoline as a result of the lack of access to the Kyauktaw market. “Even we have money, we cannot buy things. The route is not blocked but people are afraid to travel in the area,” a local worker with a volunteer group told Khonumthung News. “Rice has yet to arrive in Paletwa. Rice sellers in the…
The Chin State Chief Minister Salai Lian Luai unveiled a statue of Vum Thu Maung in a park also dedicated to the Chin anti-colonial leader on Monday morning in Mindat Township. The 3-acre area located on the Mindat-Matupi road is meant to commemorate the life of Vum Thu Maung, who was active in Burma’s struggle against British colonialism and Japanese occupation in the 1940s. He also served as the first Chin affairs minister of the Chin Hills in 1947. “We want our new generation to remember our Chin national leader, to understand how he sacrificed for his country and people,”…
On the last 12th of February, President U Win Myint sent a message emphasizing the resolution of political issues, ceasing armed conflict and carrying out the successful implementation of the peace process on the occasion of the 73rd Union Day 2020. Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) and its affiliated organization International Peace Youth Group (IPYG) and partner organization International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) conducted peace education; one of the ways to achieve peace and pass to posterity in various regions of Myanmar. < Future of Myanmar from Children, IPYG Youth Empowerment Workshop > IPYG who are working…
The peace process will be successful if there’s a democratic policy all the armed forces follow under a civilian-led government, said a Chin National Front leader during the 72nd Chin National Day in Thantlang township. “According to article 7 of the Panglong Agreement, our Union must create a democracy but until today, we still don’t have it. To implement it, we have agreed to the NCA (nationwide ceasefire agreement) and to build a Union based on democracy and federalism,” Dr Lian H. Sakhong, CNF vice chairman-2, said in his opening speech. This is something State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi…
A fourteen-year-old was injured from shrapnel after a shell landed in his village in southern Chin State in an area that has seen heavy fighting between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army in recent weeks. Maw Kyaw Htay Oo is in critical condition in Paletwa public hospital where he’s being treated for head injuries. A local told Khonumthung News the sixth-grader from Ouk Mee Let-wa is unable to speak. Maw Kyaw Htay Oo’s family is poor and will need help covering his medical bill, the local said. No-one else was injured when the shell exploded in the village around 8…
Food markets in southern Chin State are nearly empty after prolonged fighting has prevented river boats from transporting goods to markets. Clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army (AA) in southern Chin State and northern Rakhine State have stopped all shipments of rice, cooking oil and other domestic products from reaching Paletwa township since early February. “There’s no rice left in the market; the shops have already closed. We have the money but we still can’t buy it,” a government employee told Khonumthung News. There’s also very little fresh and dried food, he said. “It’s really difficult to…
The Chin State government will allow the Chin National Front (CNF) to deliver a speech at the upcoming 72nd Chin National Day Commemoration in Thantlang town in Chin State on Thursday. Originally the CNF was only permitted to attend the event—not speak at it—but following an official letter from the organization to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the CNF was informed that they could give a speech at the national day celebration. “We requested to deliver a speech but the Chin Stat government rejected our request. It was a policy from above. We told them we would not attend…