The government of Chin State has decided to postpone its plans to start demolishing unregistered homes in an area slated for development in the state capital Hakha after Christian religious leaders stepped in to mediate in the dispute. “We were going to start carrying out our house demolition plan on August 9, but Christian pastors came to discuss the matter with our chief minister, so we have postponed our plan until August 19,” Soe Htet, Chin State’s minister for municipal affairs, told Khonumthung News. The state government has been warning the owners of the unregistered homes for months that they…
Author: Editor
Clashes between the Burma Army and the insurgent Arakan Army (AA) just across the border in Rakhine State have forced hundreds of villagers in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township to flee their homes. Around 200 residents of Bawngwa, a village in Paletwa that lies right on the border between the two states, fled the area on Tuesday as the sound of heavy gunfire intensified, local sources told Khonumthung News. The villagers said they started hearing heavy artillery fire around their village on August 5. Fearing that they might get caught up in the fighting, a total of 204 villagers from…
The number of HIV-positive patients in Chin State increased by more than 100 last year, according to figures compiled by the state’s public health department. There were 122 new cases of HIV infection diagnosed in nine townships in the state between January and December of 2018, bringing the total to 36,185, the figures showed. “HIV can be transmitted through unprotected sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual; through contaminated needles and syringes; through intravenous drug use with a shared needle; through blood transfusion; and from an infected mother to her baby,” Dr. Sharon Par, the assistant director of the Chin State Public…
A company that is trying to extend a three-year license to mine near Chin State’s Tedim Township has been canvassing homes in three villages in hopes of collecting enough signatures to get the proposed project started. The 3S Company, which was given permission to mine for chromite and marble in the Hpar Taung area of the Mwe Taung mountain range in 2016, was told that it would need the approval of area residents before an extension could be granted. “The company’s three-year license is now expired, so it needs an extension. The respective authorities have asked for the opinion of…
“This book can be considered a symbol of peace education, a history fragment for the 21st century.” As of August 2019, a book named “True Story of HWPL: Peace and Cessation of War” with the record of peacebuilding efforts by millions of global citizens and social leaders has been displayed in public institutions including libraries, schools, museums in 195 countries. The thick 800 pages of the book describe how the world becomes one for peace. The description and photos of peacemaking efforts with the collaboration of civil society and national leaders from different fields – politics, academia, media, women, youth,…
On 20 July, ‘IPYG Cultural Exchange Day’ was held by International Peace Youth Group(IPYG) and Armenian Progressive Youth(APY) in attendance with about 25 volunteers in Yerevan of Armenia. APY was established by Erik Ghazaryan, Maria Simonyan, Grigor Yeritsyan who had a purpose about implementing the empowerment of youth through the cooperation with global youth network – IPYG. Mr. Henri Sahakyan, APY’s international project manager, said, “This event was held to realize the need for mutual respect without conflict in the world. In addition, it will encourage young people’s peaceful consciousness and call for voluntary and continuous peace activities.” Particularly, as a result of…
“Journalists, as we are, will now work alongside national, regional and international institutions to make peace an important leverage for global balance.” On July 27th ‘France Peace Media Network’ was launched at the Ibis Porte de Bercy hotel for providing a media platform for active communication among journalists and media persons who have agreed to contribute to the realization of peace journalism. About 20 French citizens and journalists attended in the ceremony and Mr. Makaila N’guebla from la Maison des journalists who proposed the peace media network made the above announcement as a congratulatory speech about establishment of the ‘France…
Police in northern Burma’s Sagaing Region seized weapons and other items from the home of a Chin man in Kalay Township on Sunday after receiving a tipoff that he was engaged in illegal narcotics trafficking. Police said they found weapons, ammunition, and six sets of walkie-talkies during the raid, which took place in Let-Pan-Chaung, a village located 18 miles from Kalay town, on the evening of August 4. The seized items were reportedly hidden in a space above the ceiling of a bathroom attached to the man’s bedroom. No illegal drugs were discovered in the raid. The suspect, Ming Thang…
Thirty-nine villagers from southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township who were released earlier this week after nearly six months in Arakan Army (AA) custody have arrived in Meezar, a village in Paletwa that is currently sheltering some 600 internally displaced persons (IDPs). According to sources in the village, the 39 former captives, who were originally from the village of King-talin, arrived in Meezar from the village of Ohn-thi-wa at around 11:30am on Friday. “They arrived in Meezar today, all 39 of them. Some were in poor physical condition. All of the married men in the group were taken to the Tron-Ai…
The Arakan Army (AA), an insurgent group that has come under fire for its alleged mistreatment of civilians, has released dozens of Chin villagers after holding them in captivity near the Bangladesh border for nearly six months. In a statement, the group said that the 39 villagers from King-Talin in southern Chin State’s Paletwa Township had demanded to be released because they were finding it too difficult to live in the border area during the rainy season. According to the statement, the AA agreed to free the villagers and transport them to the village of Ohn-thi-wa, where they arrived at…