State govt deny permission for Falam human rights training

20 April 2015 — The government of Chin State didn’t allow permission for holding training in human rights in Falam town.

The training organized by a Falam youth group called Falam Mino Pawlkom and scheduled for today was cancelled after the State government said in an official letter that permission was not granted.

FMP Secretary Salai Siang Cung Luai said in the Chin World Media that the government didn’t explain the reason for rejecting their permission application letter.

He said: “The government asked us to include topics of our training and we re-submitted our letter. We received a refusal letter yesterday, one day before the training, without any explanation whatsoever.”

“What I want to say is that the government does not care about us and our organization. I am not sure if they are afraid people will understand human rights.”

Luai said that they had made a call to the State Government Administration Office and that the office head had told them only Chief Minister Hung Ngai would be able to answer the question regarding the refusal.

According to the FMP, the training topics as submitted to the government were the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to both of which Burma is a signatory, and other international human rights treaties.

To lead the planned one-day training, the FMP had invited Salai Nge Pi, a secretary of the Chin National Democratic Party, and Mai Cheery Zahau, a 2015 election candidate for the Chin Progressive Party.

Established in 2010, the FMP said that it had organized similar training in the past without obtaining permission from the government as it was on a small scale.#