Scotland’s Photo Exhibition Reveals Struggle of Chin Refugees in Delhi

14 November 2011: A photo exhibition, which was officially launched last Saturday in Edinburgh, Scotland, highlights the plights and struggle of Chin refugees stranded in New Delhi, India.

The exhibition Searching for Home: Transforming Lives Among the Burmese Chin in Delhi features the photographic work of Bharat Choudhary, an award-winning Indian documentary photographer.

In a statement, Bharat Choudhary said: “Rampant human rights abuses have forced thousands to leave their homes, families, friends and livelihoods in Burma in order to seek refuge in neighbouring lands like India.”

“But after travelling 2,400 kilometres to New Delhi to obtain protection from UNHCR a new struggle for survival and settlement awaits them,” added the Indian photographer.

Some 60,000 Chin people live in extremely difficult conditions in India, existing on scarce resources and sharing the plight of the local poor, plus additional discrimination in housing, employment, education and healthcare, according to the report.

It is estimated that there are more than 10,000 Chin refugees currently living in Delhi alone, out of about 100,000 in the whole of India, according to the Chin Refugee Committee in Delhi.

The show, sponsored by Burma Assist, a Scottish charity that supports a tailoring training centre run by Chin community in New Delhi, will run until the end of this month, according to Burma Assist’s report on Friday.

Chris Barr, CEO of Burma Assist, highlighted the life-changing impacts of the six-month tailoring training on women, saying they not only got the skills but also improved their ‘confidence, self-esteem and economic capacity’.

Burma Assist, a non-political Scottish Charity supporting the Chin refugee community from Burma in Delhi since 2006, is committed to helping develop sustainable livelihoods in partnership with local people.

Reporting by Thawng Zel Thang