Education staff in Chin State have contributed more than 6.6 million kyat (US$4,400) to the family of murdered teacher Dim Lum Mang, who was murdered in the Tonzang Township community where she had been teaching in the primary school. The 27-year-old woman was shot and killed on November 17 by a man living in her village of Tuivialzang. Marlar Yee, director of the Falam District education department, transferred the funds to Dim Lum Mang’s mother on Wednesday. “Our teacher was killed while she was serving as a school teacher, so education staff in every township [in Chin State] made a…
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The Arakan Army (AA) will continue holding a Chin State parliamentarian in its custody, a representative from the group has said. Khine Thukha, an AA spokesperson, told Khonumthung that they are not planning to release Hawi Tin yet, who has been in AA custody since November 3. He was arrested while traveling from Paletwa—the township he represents—to Kyauktaw in Rakhine State to attend a meeting of the Upper House of Parliament. “[Hawi Tin] is a threat to us as someone who is challenging our security,” Khine Thukha told said. “We will continue to detain him until the situation is stable.…
Rights activists and organizations in Kalay, Sagaing Region marked the International Day of People With Disability on Tuesday by demanding that the Burmese government better implement existing laws to protect their rights. The event was held at the Mingyi Hotel and attended by disability rights groups, organizations focused on self-reliance, and the Kalay District department of social welfare, relief and resettlement. Burma passed its Law on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities in 2015, after ratifying the UN Convention on the issue in December 2011. “We want the government to implement this law,” Yaw Shu, director of the Disabled People’s…
On 29 November, Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) from Italy and Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) from Belgium hosted a seminar on human rights entitled “Intolerance and Discrimination Against New Religious Movements: An International Problem”. This seminar, held in Seoul, South Korea, was devoted to the protection of the rights of religious minorities targeted by the majority groups, particularly in the context of anti-human rights situations such as the forced conversion that occurred in Korea. Forced conversion, also known as “Deprogramming”, is a social issue that causes human rights violations by kidnapping and detaining the members of religious…
There have been 16 reports of the rape of minors in Kalay Township, Sagaing Region so far this year, according to a local rights group. Women for Justice reported that 12 cases involved children under 14 years old. Four cases concerned the alleged rape of girls 16 or older. Around half of the cases involved ethnic Chin children, who are believed to make up the majority of the residents of Kalay. “We feel that children are not safe,” Thanda Aye, who works with Women for Justice, told Khonumthung News. She added that even school was not necessarily a safe place,…
A 47-year-old man from southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township was killed by a landmine explosion after carrying an injured Burmese soldier to safety. Philipa, of Don Chaungwa village, had spent three to four days in the forest with other villagers cutting bamboo when Burma Army troops approached them and asked them to carry an injured government soldier to another location. It is unclear if the men had a choice, as Khonumthung reported in October that Burma Army soldiers forced locals and internally displaced people to serve as porters in Meezar, some 18 miles from Don Chaungwa. “He didn’t step on…
Two 42-year-old men and a 12-year-old girl were injured after an artillery shell hit their village in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township this week. The Burma Army and the Arakan Army clashed near Ton Mawa village on November 24 for hours. A shell landed in the community at around 11:00 p.m. It is unknown which army fired it. The child and the two injured adults, Thauk Kyar Aung and Kyaw Thein, were all receiving medical treatment in Paletwa public hospital. Kyaw Thein is reportedly in critical condition. “The shell landed on the house of Kyaw Thein. His neighbor Thauk Kyar…