NEW DELHI—When he heard that he was to be forcefully recruited as a porter for the Burmese army for a second time, Awn Khan Pauhe and his family packed a few belonging, said goodbye to their relatives and neighbors, and left their ancestral home of Tedim in Chin State and headed across the border to India and traveled by bus to New Delhi.

Although they had lost their home and their livelihoods, and were now destitute in a cramped city where they could not speak the language, the Chin farming family felt nothing but relief.

"The Burmese soldiers said they lost their equipment and beat me on my face and back with their guns,” said Awn Khan Pauhe. “Later, I sneaked out and ran back to my village. I went into hiding so they wouldn't find me. They went o my house and beat my wife. We decided we had to leave the village. I knew a friend in Delhi and that's why we came here.”

He and his family crossed the Indo-Burmese border and passed through Mizoram. Then they caught a bus to New Delhi.

His wife, Tweal Ngaih Nem, found a job working at sweater-knitting factory. She earns a monthly wage of 3,500 rupees [US $75], not enough to feed her family.

“The rental for our single room is 2,000 rupees per month, so we have 1,500 rupees for electric bills, gas, rice and cooking oil. We don't have for curries, so we have to go through the waste to collect vegetables at the weekend night bazaars after the vendors have gone,” said Awn Khan Pau, holding up some rotten cauliflower leaves. He said that it has been a long time since they had fish or meat.

On the floor of his tiny room under a dim light, a pile of rotten cauliflower leaves sit alongside a pack of stale French beans and potatoes. There is a small gas stove, and an old plastic mat on which their three boys lie fast asleep, covered with old blankets.

The urban areas of New Delhi's Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Sitapuri and Hastsal's weekly night bazaars are the most dependable scavenging spots for Burmese refugees. But as basic commodities prices are increasing dramatically around India, alongside higher room rentals, many Burmese refugees must collect stale or rotten foodstuffs from the night bazaars to survive.

“Last December, we were recognized as refugees and got some social assistance—20,000 rupees ($440) for a whole family—from the YMCA,” said one. “I'm so worried that one of us gets sick.”

After receiving a certificate as a recognized refugees from the UNHCR, the Burmese refugees in India can collect around 1,000 to 2,000 rupees per person per month from the YMCA, but only for three months.

Most Burmese refugees or migrants work in menial jobs—as cleaners, porters and garment factory workers. For who understand Hindi, English or have some knowledge of computers, there are a few possibilities in offices, in which a Burmese can earn up to 5,000 rupees a month. Indians doing the same job will earn 7,000 to 8,000 rupees, though.

Other difficulties for the Burmese include cultural and language problems. They frequently report problems or grievances with neighbors, colleagues and landlords.

Awn Khan Pau said his family is lucky to have a kind landlord, but complains that Indian workers in his apartment block are not as accepting.

“The neighbors mostly work as security guards,” he said. “They come home drunk, kick the doors, shout and make lots of noise. Some night, we cannot sleep at all. We all have to share one bathroom, but even if we are using it, they barge in and tell us to leave.”

Like Awn Khan Pau's family, there are many Chin people who left their villages and came to New Delhi in 2010. Tawk Theiam and her husband left Mong Than village located near Thantlang Township in June.

“Our friend said if we have difficulties in Burma, we can go to New Delhi where there is a UNHCR office that helps Burmese refugees,” Tawk Theiam said. “My husband is working at a jeans factory. We also collect old vegetables at the night markets because his salary is not enough.”

There are an estimated 50,000 Burmese, Kachin and Chin refugees in India, Chin being the majority. There are a handful of NGOs that provide assistance, but it is limited.

'Since we have to depend on donors, and the number of Chin refugees is increasing, we cannot help everyone in need,” said David, the secretary of the Chin Refugees Committee in New Delhi.

He said that of the 9,000 Chin refugees in 2010, his organization could only provide rice and money to 170 households.

According to a report issued in January by the US-based Physicians for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, nearly 92 percent of households in Chin State have experienced at least one serious case of human rights abuses in the past two years; and there is widespread use of local people as forced laborers for the Burmese army or as unpaid laborers on government construction projects, as well as a host of other abuses by the Burmese authorities.

“Some of our friends are now in Australia and America. said a Chin woman who asked to remain anonymous. “We hope that our children will have a better future.”

Related Article: Ninety-two Percent of Chins Abused by Burmese Military: Report