Country: Myanmar

Group: Chin/Kuki

Date Finalize: 4/21/2020

Team: Leilani Alva (lead), Johanna McCombs, Maya Shrikant

Chins have faced long-term discrimination and violence from the Burmese Government. More than 70% of the Chin people are Christian because of an extensive history of Christian missionaries converting them (Ismail, n.d.). The Burmese (Myanmar) government declared Buddhism the country’s religion in the early 1960s (Minority Rights, n.d.). Since the staged coup by General Ne Win in 1962, there have been ongoing human rights abuses and instances qualifying as ethnocide of Chin in Myanmar. In a collection of interviews from 2005-2008, Chin people reported the following at the hand of the Burmese government: “extrajudicial kills, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and mistreatment, forced labor, sever reprisals against members of the opposition, restrictions on movement, expression, and religious freedom, abusive military conscription policies, and extortion and confiscation of property.” (Alexander, n.d.). Actions by these groups have strained the ability of Chin people to survive in Myanmar, forcing many Chin to flee to the Mizoram state in India. However, in Mizoram the Chin peoples continue to face abuse and discrimination due to their legal status and their religion. Additionally, internal opposition groups (Chin National Front and Chin National Army) have been extorting money and committing abuse against their own people.

Sources

  1. Alexander, A. (2015, April 29). The Chin People of Burma: Unsafe in Burma, Unprotected in India. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/01/27/we-are-forgotten-people/chin-people-burma-unsafe-burma-unprotected-india
  2. Minority Rights (2017, August 30). Chin. Retrieved from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/chin/
  3. Human Rights Watch (2015, April 29).  “We Are Like Forgotten People”: The Chin People of Burma: Unsafe in Burma, Unprotected in India. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/01/27/we-are-forgotten-people/chin-people-burma-unsafe-burma-unprotected-india