The story of a Chin Refugee

Everybody is naturally attached to the land of their birth. There are many Chin refugees who love their motherland but who have been forced to flee following Christmas in 2021, mainly to a refugee camp in India. They experienced many challenges and dangers on the way. Luckily, however, the provincial administration of Mizoram State and its people have warmly welcomed and helped the Chin refugees as much as they can, even though they are quite limited, themselves, in how much humanitarian relief aid they can offer. This is also why we gratefully thank all donors who have supported the Better Burma fund with a donation, as we have been able to allocate some of this towards these purposes.

We recently interviewed a young, smart and compassionate Chin man who is helping the Chin people at this refugee site, a man we’ll call “Ko Min” in the interest of safety. He speaks English fluently, and shared with us a couple of heartfelt sorrowful stories. He has also been helping us with distributing humanitarian aid.

“Ko Min” related the very sad stories of children who got separated from their parents while fleeing from their home village. He has fortunately been able to help some of them get reunited with their parents, but very sadly, not all. And he described the very uncomfortable  living conditions. The refugees have to live in a forested area in plastic tents since there are no canvas or fabric tents available. He is concerned about how conditions will deteriorate in the upcoming monsoon season, since this area is prone to flooding, So there is an urgent need to build up some bamboo huts and sturdier and drier-accommodations as soon as possible. “Ko Min” and his team urgently call on international donors to help them by providing building materials for these new temporary lodgings.

Please also keep in mind that a generous donor has offered to match all donations through the month of March, and so anything you give now may count as double!