Shame of the Forgotten Refugees
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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Shame of the Forgotten Refugees


By Tamara Terziana/Mizoram, India APRIL, 2007 - VOLUME 15 NO.4


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When I was there, a long line of Burmese carrying their belongings o­n their backs queued to return to Burma. But while some Burmese migrate between the two countries easily, others cannot go back and need to pay off the police in Mizoram in order to stay.

Nute, a young, gaunt-looking woman, is o­ne of those stranded. “I crossed over to get treatment for my baby. Now I cannot return because my village was burnt down and people are fleeing.”

According to human rights activists in New Delhi, the Indian public and central politicians see Burma and Burmese refugees as part of the general malaise of the northeastern region. However, Indian military leaders are acutely aware of security threats stemming from the border.

These concerns, combined with strategic and economic interests, have led to New Delhi’s so-called “Look East Policy.”

To this end, the Indian federal government has announced plans to spend about $100 million improving navigation of the Kaladan River, which flows from southern Mizoram into Burma and out into the Bay of Bengal at the Sittwe port in Arakan State.

India also wants to modernize the Sittwe port, and says agreement has been reached o­n this with the Burmese regime. New Delhi says the Kaladan could become an important trade route giving Mizoram and other northeast states access to the sea.

In the meantime, the Chin community tries to help itself. Throughout Mizoram, small groups have been set up to fund the schooling of the poorest children, as well as to provide health care and safe houses for women.  Some of their leaders are educated Chin who benefited from a recruitment drive by the Mizoram authorities in the 1990s to deal with the Chin problem.

Pa Lian, a native Chin teacher, community leader and health worker,  said: “We all received training, legal papers and jobs.”

But Pa Lian’s team, which helps in providing housing for Chin often finds it difficult to operate. “To rent a house, a Chin needs two recommendation letters issued by the village council and the Young Mizo Association (see box story),” says Pa Lian. “In practice, this is very difficult and again people are threatened with deportation.”

It’s not clear how many Chin live in Mizoram. Hngaki, a Chin activist, said there is a tendency by Chin to give low figures to avoid raising fears among the Mizos.

“The visible population of Chins who identify themselves by speaking and dressing like Chin and attending Chin church fellowships accounts for over 60,000,” she said. But many other Chin have adopted Mizo customs and language for survival and to avoid discrimination.

“Our existence as Burmese here in northeast India has been ignored by the international community, neglected by the pro-democracy movement and downplayed by Indian officials,” said Hngaki, in an appeal for help.

Tamara Terziana is a researcher based in Southeast Asia

*All Chin names in this article have been changed

The Chins’ Enemy Within
The Young Mizo Association is a hard-line ethnic nationalist organization, based in the Mizoram State capital of Aizawl, that has set itself up as a guardian of Mizo morals. Critics say it harasses Chin and other Burmese refugees. Its roots go back to the 1930s.

Despite its declared non-political status, in some respects the YMA operates like a parallel government, and even leading Mizo politicians are hesitant to speak out against some of its questionable activities.

When the Mizoram government planned to issue work permits for migrants in 2003, the YMA objected and set about illegally deporting many Chin. YMA members carry out house-to-house checks for housing recommendation letters. People unable to produce correct documents are deported. Local authorities tend to turn a blind eye.

YMA members also undertake frequent road checks, searching cars for alcohol. Without uniforms or ID cards, YMA members appear more like plain clothes police.

Some churches, including the Presbyterian Church, were instrumental in helping to organize the YMA. The church has also played a pivotal role in the politics of Mizoram, and this is said by some observers to have enhanced stability in the state.

However, many researchers point to the emergence of a clash between Mizo traditionalism and church fundamentalism. There are strong undercurrents of political-ethnic conflicts within Mizoram, and Burmese refugees from Chin State and Sagaing Division are caught in the middle.

—Tamara Terziana



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