In light of the World Refugee Awareness Month and the ongoing military coup in Burma, the U.S. Campaign for Burma would like to raise the voices of refugees and internally displaced persons in the ethnic states of Burma- starting with Chin state.
Home to more than 50 sub-ethnicities, Chin state is largely made up of Christian converts. Further, most residents are settled among the mountains and hillsides, isolated from the growing modern urbanization. These situations, collectively, have made the Chin people a prime target for the military’s discrimination and oppression since the inception of its regime in 1962. Consequently, despite chances of getting caught, tortured, and even killed, Chin organizations estimated that by 2014, over 200,000 have migrated to India, Thailand, and Malaysia in search of better economic circumstances and lifestyles. Even though most Chin refugees resettled in developed countries throughout the years, UNHCR still reported more than 18,000 in 2019.
Atrocities performed by the military junta in Chin state include, but are not limited to, unlawful killings, arbitrary detainments, forced labour, forced evictions and threats, and persecutions due to religious beliefs. Burma’s dominating Burman society and majority Buddhist country were notorious in its suppression of the 90% Christian population of ethnic Chin state. Through demolishing worship places, abusing religious leaders, and forcefully inputting Buddhist beliefs, many instances of vicious assimilation, known as “Burmanization,” were witnessed in the region. Further, economic promotions and one’s social status were indirectly determined by his/her ethnic identity and faith. These situations merely scrape the surface of the daily life of a Chin person, even during the semi-democratic days of Aung San Suu Kyi. Needless to say, since the coup, circumstances have only worsened for Chin people.
With growing resistance against the junta throughout the country, it was not long before the military turned their attention to Chin state. On February 27, 2021, the military raided Hakha Baptist Church in the state’s capital. Through the usage of water cannons, they forcibly dispersed the people, disrupted their united prayer, and detained their leading pastor. Following this, full-blown conflict began in Chin state in late April, and only then did independent media sources do more intense reportng on ethnic Chin people. Many people of urban central Burma and the international community at large have barely begun to realize the vastly inhumane treatment of Chin civilians.
On April 24, 2021, residents in Mindat urged the release of seven youth forcibly detained by the military. The calls for release initiated a four-day battle and ushered in a future of catastrophic consequences on the township. With local resistance fighters using home-made hunting rifles and the military stocked with artillery shelling, modern machineries, and RPGs, victory was not in the people’s favor. Even more, the military received additional reinforcements and launched an all-out offensive, burning down homes, sending airstrikes, and shooting indiscriminately. Resorting to pre-coup tactics, it was reported that the military continue to use civilians as human shields against the local fighters. This forced the newly formed Chinland Defense Force (CDF), as well as villagers caught in the cross-fire, to retreat into the forests. An estimated 15,000 people crossed the border to India and are currently seeking refuge in the city of Mizoram.
As stated previously, most tactics used by the military are not new for the Chin people who have faced continuous oppression and persecution. According to Chin Human Rights Organization’s 2018 assessment, the use of human shields and landmines, forcefully enlisting young men, and brutal crackdowns were ongoing atrocities committed by the military even before the coup.
Today, conflicts between local armed groups and the military continue in Chin state. The number of IDPs has reached beyond 15,000 from just Mindat Township, as well as an overall number of 40,000 throughout the ethnic state. As the sheer number grows and supplies rapidly deplete, IDPs are facing a humanitarian crisis while running for their lives. To add to the situation, surging cases of Covid-19 were reported in the area, leading to the lockdown of almost half the state. Locals speculate the cause of the rising cases to be those illegally crossing the border from India. With diagnostic tools and treatments delayed by the coup and its onset of conflicts, the people of Chin state are facing triple burdens between military violence, inadequate humanitarian aid, and the pandemic.
The global community, international human rights and grassroots organizations, and the United States government needs to be attentive to the migration and displacements being forced upon the people of Burma. We urge the international community to provide cross-border assistance to those fleeing, pressure the military junta to allow humanitarian aid access to the most impacted communities, recognize the civilian-endorsed National Unity Government, to impose the arms embargo sanctions on the military, and to stop aiding the junta’s regime and their crimes against humanity through economic and diplomatic relations. By associating with the junta, one is indirectly supporting its violence against its own people and land, especially its atrocities against the already vulnerable ethnic minorities.
For more information on conflict and IDPs in Chin State, click here to access UCSB’s Crowd Map and read articles from each state.
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