Report highlights Chin refugees’ state
Report highlights Chin refugees’ state
New Delhi: A report released on Tuesday by a coalition of human rights activists calls on the Indian government, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and supporting non-governmental organizations to address the condition of an estimated 100,000 Chin refugees living in Mizoram.
Called Seeking Refuge, the 135-page report, released 6 March, documents the persecution that drove the Chins to flee to neighbouring countries, the challenges faced them in Mizoram, and makes recommendations on how their current status could be improved.
Largely Christian, Chins started seeking refuge in India after the military junta took over Myanmar in 1988. Today, an estimated 100,000 Burmese Chin are living in Mizoram state, increasing the population of the state by an estimated 10%.
Up until 2010, however, travel to Mizoram state was largely restricted for foreigners and those not from the region--so the plight of the refugees was largely unstudied and undocumented.
The report--sponsored by a combination of refugee and religious organization such as World Relief Baptist World Alliance, Refugee Council USA, InterAction, Jesuit Refugee Service, Lutheran World Federation, World Evangelical Alliance, and World Relief, is the product of a “fact-finding mission” in Mizoram, New Delhi and Calcutta that took place from April to May 2011.
The report found the Chins living in Mizoram to be among the “poorest of the poor,” often treated as economic migrants rather than refugees, the report found. As undocumented in the country, they can only work in the informal sector, and lack the resources to pay for healthcare costs or send their children to school. Lacking refugee status, they also live in fear of deportation, the report found. “Despite the genuine sense of kinship expressed by many local people in Mizoram, Chins are nonetheless fearful because they lack legal status and legal standing to protect themselves,” according to the report. “They consequently are vulnerable to arrest, detention, and deportation as foreigners.”
The report recommends a more fluid partnership between the Central and Mizoram state governments, UNHCR and other stakeholders to address some of the challenges, and to relieve the burden placed on Mizoram state. “A more humane and realistic approach would be to establish a partnership between India, UNHCR, the international community, and other concerned stakeholders to address the Chins’ protection needs and humanitarian plight,” the report concludes.
malia.p@livemint.com
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First Published:6 Mar 2012, 10:19 PM IST
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