All Chin veterans of World War II who served in the British army will be provided financial assistance from a UK-based non-profit in recognition of their service.
The annual grants, which are 200,000 kyats (US$125), will be given to both former soldiers or their widows starting in November.
The program is run by the charity Help for Forgotten Allies (H4FA), which recognizes the contributions of ethnic minorities in Burma to the British fight against the Japanese in the country from 1942-1945.
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) has worked with H4FA to provide assistance to around 100 Chin veterans specifically in the Kalay Kabaw valley area since 2016; now the program will expand to include all Chin veterans.
“Whoever served in the British army during World War II will be provided [the grants],” Salai Tera, CHRO’s field director, told Khonumthung News. “If the veterans are still alive, we directly provide it to those veterans. If the veterans have passed away, we provide assistance to their wives. We stop providing assistance if both the veterans and their wives have passed away.”
According to its website, H4FA aims to redress the fact that “these veterans have not received a penny of official British government aid in the 60 years since the end of World War II,” adding that “the situation remains dire for many of them.”