YANGON—More than 100,000 Chin ethnic people have fled Myanmar due to human rights abuses and political insecurity, Lyan Bwe Hsan from the Chin Human Rights Organization said yesterday at the Chin National Conference.
“I think about 70,000 Chin people are staying as refugees in India. And 40-50,000 Chin refugees are living in Malaysia. When we went to a refugee camp in Thailand, we saw about 250 Chin people. There are roughly 500 Chin refugees in Thailand. The refugee problem is our Chin people’s main issue. Most of the Chin nationals are going abroad. Due to human right abuses and political insecurity, they [Chin people] are going to foreign countries,” said Lyan Bwe Hsan.
Those attending the Chin National Conference will urge the Chin State government army troops and Chin national military group to reduce military tensions so that Chin people who have already gone abroad can return and so that there will not be an increase in Chin refugees.
“At the conference, we discussed matters on refugees’ affairs, such as how to try to stop the increase in refugees, and how to reduce human right abuses. We also thought about whether or not state military troops are needed in Chin State because the government has already signed an agreement with the Chin National Force. Is Battalion 53 in Chin State needed for security? Those issues are very important factors for reducing the refugee rate,” he added.
The main problems of Chin refugees are political mis-administration, ethnic discrimination and human rights abuse.
For these reasons, the Chin National Conference released a statement calling for positive action to secure peace, freedom, and an end to military conflict.
