What Dreams May Come
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“I feel like I have some duty to do something, even though I’m one thousand miles away.”
Van Neih Thang is the president of the CCDK (Chin Community in Denmark), a non-profit that developed from a local community within the Chin diaspora into an advocacy and humanitarian organization that is dedicated to the Chin people in Denmark and the world. CCDK was founded in 2003 by refugees from Myanmar and it provides a meaningful link between the two nations as they seek to promote unity amongst their people as well as the successful integration of their community into Danish society. Van Neih Thang joins the podcast to speak not only about the CCDK, but also his own story as a refugee, the current crisis as it relates to the Chin people, and the important work that must be done to uplift all the people of Myanmar. But ultimately, this is a conversation about new and old homes, and the duty individuals should or should not feel when watching tragedy from afar.
Van Neih Thang’s parents made the difficult decision to leave Myanmar when he was just thirteen years old. He describes his humble upbringing in Chin State, one of Myanmar’s most beautiful yet most deprived regions. He remembers the military presence growing up, how soldiers would destroy Christian sites and iconography as part of their campaign to suppress their religion. He and his family were always afraid of the military, but their faith and closeness provided a much-needed light. Once they arrived in Denmark, new challenges presented themselves. Learning the Danish language was hard, he admits. But, in the end, it was the only aspect of his new home that he found difficult and, eventually, he would become an influential community leader within the Chin diaspora.
“I did not know what they were talking about for a year,” Van Neih Thang says jokingly, as he discusses making new friends as a young refugee in Denmark. Soon enough, however, he was becoming more Danish than Burmese. It helped that Denmark was also a Christian nation, but the education he received there also played a huge role. When compared to his childhood in Chin State, where the teachers openly hit students and there was little funding and infrastructure, the Danish system was invigorating. He wishes the same for Myanmar and feels privileged and proud to call such a developed country his home.
Van Neih Thang’s connection to Chin State and its people never disappeared. The Chin community in Denmark numbers around 1500, he says. “We are not that big of a community, but we do what we can to help.” The CCDK, with its strong connections to local Chin churches, offers meaningful assistance to those within the diaspora as they navigate Danish society and the process of integration. The organization also undertakes a number of important roles focused on the people in Myanmar, which include helping to provide humanitarian assistance, coordinating demonstrations (especially after the coup in 2021), and advocating for the roughly 90,000 IDPs from Chin communities.
Being able to communicate with his family back home has made it easier for Van Neih Thang to track developments in the current crisis. The first act of resistance following the coup is credited to Chin State, and Van Neih Thang says the overall goal continues to be to clear out the military from the region. He points out that the sheer number of soldiers in the region suggests that the Chin people are more than proving to be strong opponents. However, the need for humanitarian assistance is remains crucial. The military has devastated the region: they have destroyed whole towns, and its people lack equipment and financial support. One of the most prominent examples of this has been the destruction of Thantlang. By November 2022, much of Thantlang had been destroyed following full-scale battles between the military and local resistance forces.
Van Neih Thang discusses the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Chin Brotherhood, the two main resistance groups that are fighting the junta in Chin State. Established in 1988, the CNF has spent decades fighting for the self-determination of the Chin people in Myanmar. The Chin Brotherhood, on the other hand, was founded in 2023 during the war and according to Van Neih Thang is made up of much younger members. There are political disagreements between them, he says, and the generational gap is one reason for the split. The CCDK, however, does not focus on the politics of the wider Chin resistance. “People may have their own views on things,” he says, but as a community-led organization, he focuses their efforts on the urgent humanitarian crisis that engulfs their people. The Chin are a diverse group, encompassing different languages, cultures, churches and more. “We are brothers and sisters,” Van Neih Thang states proudly.
When asked to consider what a post-military Myanmar might look like, it is clear he does not believe in easy answers. Given that Chin State is, historically, one of the most neglected, most oppressed, and least developed regions in the country, the best approach to any possibility of a federal democracy, comes with, for Van Neih Thang, a sense of caution. “If I were the one making a decision, I would be more careful,” he says. He believes the Chin should have their own military and territory but admits that it will be hard to trust whoever oversees a free Myanmar. With regards to the National Unity Government (NUG), trust is fading within the Chin community. “The NUG has to widen their boundary,” he says, as he feels they are not as inclusive to other groups and views as they could be. While Van Neih Thang has views on the makeup of the NUG, he makes clear that his priority rests on the well-being and self-determination of the Chin community at home and abroad.
For example, there are thousands of Chin refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. The experience has been particularly difficult for those in India, and Van Neih Thang also discusses the large number of Chin refugees that are currently in Malaysia, many of whom, he says, were moved there by the UNHCR during the 2000s.
With this in mind, the conversation returns to Van Neih Thang’s experience in Denmark, where amazing things are happening for the Chin diaspora. The kind of lifestyle he is able to live informs the work he does for the people in this global community that are not so lucky. “I have to do as much as I can to help out the people that are still there in Asia... Is that luck, or is that a blessing? Or is that a duty?”
Throughout the conversation, he reflects on how life could’ve been different, especially as a young Chin. He is conscious of his privileged position, having called that privilege a blessing. But, he says, “it is a blessing with a purpose.”