Local youths on mission to help displaced Chins raise 22 Million Kyats
By Salai Van Cung Lian
Local youths in Chin State capital Hakha have raised over 20 million Kyats to support internally displaced persons in southern Chin and northern Rakhine States through community crowd funding and door-to-door collection of donations .
The Hakha Youths for Paletwa IPDs is one of the many fund raising programs initiated by local youth groups and private individuals across Chin State and among the Chin diaspora communities in several countries around the world.
According to fundraising team leader Dr Biak Cung Lian, as of 10 April, over 22 million Kyats have been raised from residents of 22 wards in Hakha town and 44 private individual donors, including some supporters from US, Norway, Columbia, UK and Japan.
Dr Biak Cung Lian added, “As the number of IDPs increases with little hope for a better situation in Paletwa Township, displaced people are at risk of COVID-19.”
On 10 April 2020, about 900 villagers arrived at Paletwa Town from neighboring villages following intense fighting between Burmese military and the Arakan Army in the area this week.
The latest fighting has left at least 7 dead and in 8 people injured when the Burma Army conducted air assaults on a village in Paletwa Township on Tuesday, 7 April. Chin Human Rights Organization, which monitors situation in the area has said that a nursing mother and two children were among those killed in the latest aerial bombing.
There are nearly 3100 IDPs in Paletwa town and about 3000 IDPs in neighboring Samee Town of Paletwa Township, causing food shortages, as rice supply is running out in Paletwa town, according to a community leader.
Salai Van Cung Lian is founder of the Chin Bridge Institute based in Hakha
