Chin youths engage Burmese Parliament

Thirty members of Chin Youth Forum (CYF) paid a vsit to Burma’s new capital Nay Pyi Taw last week to engage politicians and exchange views with Parliamentarians. For the first time, the youth delegation from CYF met with a group of Union Parliamentarians from Chin State and handed them a policy paper titled “Policy Perspective Proclamation of Chin Youths” on Monday, 15 July 2013.

The youth delegation was part of a larger group of observers allowed to witness the Burmese parliamentary session in action, which also included 20 members of the Kachin State Parliament and 189 members of Mingalardone Township’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the military-backed governing party.

Salai Samuel Cung Za Hmung, CYF delegation member said, “It was a good opportunity for us to learn about what the Chin MPs in the Union Parliament are doing, as well as to share with them the concerns and perspective of the Chin Youth Forum.” Noting that the Chin MPs from different political parties had rarely converged together in Nay Pyi Taw in the past nearly three years, Salai Samuel said CYF has proposed a meeting between the Chin MPs and the youth group in Rangoon in the near future.

Founded in Rangoon by a group of Chin youth volunteers on 23 Septmber 2012, the Chin Youth Forum (CYF) aims ‘to create network for Chin youths and to make a wider awareness-raising about their rights and issues’. CYF is set to meet in Hakha, the capital of Chin State, some time in November in preparation for the nation-wide Myanmar Youth Forum conference which is scheduled to take place on 12 December this year.

By salai Khaipi