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To: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 13 Aug 1996 20:16:19 +0000
Subject: "Appeal for Chin Refugees in Mizoram"
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Organization: The Other Media, N. Delhi

              URGENT SOLIDARITY ACTION REQUIRED
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-------------------------------------------------------
CHIN REFUGEES IN MIZORAM (INDIA) : JAILED, TORTURED AND
THREATENED WITH DEPORTATION TO MYANMAR.
-------------------------------------------------------


Police terror has forced Chin (Burmese) refugees in
Mizoram state to go into hiding. In retaliation to the
killing of an activist of the Young Mizo Association on
July 12 allegedly by the Chin National Front (CNF),
Mizoram police have let loose a reign of terror. Nearly
fifty Chin refugees were picked up and tortured. The
state Crime Investigation Department (CID) has warned
hundreds of Chin refugees to leave Mizoram by August
13, a date announced by the Mizoram Home Minister. It
affects an estimated 40,000 Chins who have taken
shelter in Mizoram state of India since the seventies. 


Background:
----------

The Chin ethnic people, the  majority of whom are
Christians, were special targets of the programme of
Burmanisation of General Ne Win. As the Chins put up
strong resistance against this cultural and political
onslaught, the Burmese government banned  the use of
their  language in the local schools. As a result many
educated Chins migrated to Mizoram. The Chins and the
Mizos belong to the same ethnicity and speak a similar
language. Many Chins were able to find jobs as school
teachers in Mizoram. Chin doctors were allowed to
practice in Aizawl. Some Chins were able to set up
business. 

The real big wave of Chin refugees came into Mizoram
after the 1988 crack down by the SLORC against
democracy movement in Myanmar. Refugee camps were set
up in Champai and Saiha districts of Mizoram to
accommodate these Chin refugees by the Mizoram
Government. However, these camps were closed down in
1994/95 when the Indo-Myanmar border trade talks began.
One of the main reasons for closing down the camps was
the request of Myanmar government which believed that
the Chin National Front (CNF) which is fighting for the
independence of Chin State, was operating from these
camps. Since then the Chin refugees have been scattered
all over Mizoram, forced to find work for their
survival.   

Government of India has been following a conscious
hands-off policy regarding the Chin refugee affair. It
has so far allowed the Mizoram government to deal with
the situation in the remote north eastern state on its
own. In September 1994 and in June 1995, when the
ongoing anti-foreigner movement in Mizoram targeted the
Chins, and statements were made by local politicians
that all foreigners including the Chins would be pushed
back, a large number of Chin refugees came to Delhi and
requested UNHCR for protection and help. UNHCR was
unable to decide about the status of the Chins  as they
had no access to Mizoram. 

UNHCR took up this matter with the Ministry of External
Affairs of Government of India. However,  in June 1996
UNHCR decided to urge the Chin refugees to go back to
Mizoram on the assurance of the External Affairs
Ministry that the Chins would not be pushed back.  This
was done despite the warning by the Chin refugees and
some of the NGOs working for the protection of Burmese
refugees in the north-eastern states of India. It was
pointed out to UNHCR that the assurance of the Ministry
of External Affairs meant very little without a similar
assurance from the Home Ministry. It was also pointed
out that Indian Home Ministry and the government of
Myanmar have already entered into several agreements on
border trade and military cooperation for control of
cross-border insurgency which also meant joint
campaigns against the CNF in the region. As CNF was
going to increase its anti-SLORC operations the Chins
in Mizoram were certain to get caught in anti-
insurgency campaigns launched by the Indian and Myanmar
security forces. This is what has happened now.


Current situation:
------------------

Mr. Lian No Thang a Chin national who owns a
photographic studio on Zion Road Aizawl told me this
morning on telephone that about a hundred Chin and
Burmese families staying in Aizwal, the capital city of
Mizoram state were visited by members of the state
government's CID staff on August 10 and 11.  According
to Mr. Nothang these Chin/Burmese families were told to
pack up their belongings and leave Mizoram state by
August 13. He told me that he who has been in Aizawl
for about twenty years, has also received the same
eviction order.

According to another source who must remain
unidentified, on August 9,10 and 11 about 15 Chin
nationals, most of whom were employed in various
schools of Aizawl, were picked up from their homes and
taken away by the CID and Mizoram police. They have not
been formally charged with any crime. We have reasons
to believe that between July 12 and August 11, the
Mizoram police have detained nearly 50 Chin/Burmese
nationals who had take shelter in the Indian state of
Mizoram. Some of the arrested persons have been
recognised by UNHCR as persons of concern. Mr. Leng
Mang a Chin refugee, who had returned to Aizwal on July
10 on the urging of the UNHCR office in Delhi, was
picked up by the CID on the night of July 12. He claims
that he was severely tortured for about seven days to
force him to identify CNF activists in Aizawl. His
UNHCR certificate gave him no protection. After about
seven days of torture he was allowed to go. But
according to him more than a score of Chin youth who
were picked up around the same time as him, are still
in custody.   

We also have received reports from the kin of some of
the Chins in Aizawl and Mr Sang Zel ( UNHCR certificate
number BU-262) who managed to come away to Delhi on
August 11. According to our information, most of the
persons detained were physically manhandled and
tortured. The detained persons are yet to be charged
formally. All are apparently being held for
"questioning" by the CID. 

Mr. Tawk Cung a Chin refugee who runs a private school
under the name Evergreen High School in Aizawl and  his
brother, Mr. Chan Thawng who was employed as a teacher
in Government High School in Aizwal were arrested on
July 12-13. Both are reported to have been severely
tortured in custody. As it was learnt that these two
brothers were in a bad state of health, one of their
Mizo friends, Mr. Ramawia, a former minister of Mizoram
and a senior leader of the Mizo National Front (MNF)
intervened on their behalf and requested the CID to
release them on his personal surety. We are told that
this offer of Mr. Ramawia was turned down by the
Mizoram government. 

This spate of arrests started after July 12, when Mr.
C. Lalhmangaiha, President of the Khuang Leng village
unit of Young Mizo Association (YMA) was allegedly shot
dead by three members of the Chin National Army (CNA)
the military wing of the Chin National Front (CNF) of
Myanmar. The CNA or its parent body CNF have not made
any statement about this killing till date. However
Mizo newspapers  reported that the killing was done by 
CNA. This created tension between the Chins and the
local Mizos. The state police and the CID started large
scale arrests.  For some strange reason, most of the
arrests were made in Aizawl which is quite far from
Khaung Leng village located on the border of Myanmar.
The police and the CID claimed that they were rounding
up known supporters and sympathizers of CNF in Aizawl
for questioning. All these arrests were illegal.

On July 25, Mizo youth and students took out rallies in
the towns of  Champai, Lunglei and Aizwal demanding
immediate deportation of all Chin/Burmese persons from
Mizoram. According to the local newspapers Mr.
Lalsangzuala the Home Minister of the government of
Mizoram attended the rally in Aizwal and told all the
Chins and Burmese to leave Mizoram.  

Dr. Za Hlei Thang the Chin MP who has been living in
exile in Aizawl since 1990, was called to the office of
the state CID and told that  he had to cooperate with
the CID. He was later told if he apologized to the
Mizos on behalf of the CNF then the expulsion of Chins
might be stopped. He pointed out that as he was not
associated with the CNF and as the CNF has not claimed
to have killed the YMA activist he could not do so.
However he offered to do so on behalf of the Chin
nationals who had taken shelter in Mizoram.

On August 9, 1996, a Mizo pastor was shot in the leg by
unknown assailants in the village of Buan Tlang in
Champai district. After that incident the CID arrested
another 15 Chin refugees from Aizawl and issued quit
notice to about 100 Chin/Burmese families in Aizwal.
Even Dr. Za Hlei Than is not sure that his "apology"
will be of any help, now as the atmosphere is so
vitiated.

These arrests are obviously aimed at pressurizing the
CNF. The ordinary civilian Chin/Burmese rufugees are
being used as a hostage by the Mizoram government. We
will be able to understand the reasons behind this
inhuman actions of the Mizoram police when we review
these developments in the context of recent military
engagements between the Mizo Armed Police (MAP) and CNF
in the border areas of Champai-Falam. 

CNF imposed a blockade on the movement of goods across
the Indo-Myanmar border in this sector from July 1,
1996. The Champai road connects the towns of Falam and
Tidim across the border in Chin state of Myanmar. It is
the most important border road for trade. The blockade
imposed by CNF virtually stopped the thriving legal and
illegal border trade in this region.  In June, six
Burmese soldiers had defected to CNF with all their
arms and ammunition. SLORC had requested the Indian
authorities for the arrest and return of these six
soldiers to Myanmar as they were deserters. A
combination of these two factors and the pressure
mounted by the Mizo traders who were badly affected by
the CNF imposed blockade on border trade led to the
deployment of units of  Mizo Armed Police in a clean-up
operation. The objective was to clear the area of CNF
activists. The SLORC apparently agreed to these
military operations by Indian security forces inside
their territory in the interest of border trade. There
were reports of several clashes between the MAP and CNF
in the Champai/Falam sector in which two MAP constables
and several CNF soldiers were killed. Apparently the
MAP forces have not been able to open up the border
road yet.

These transborder operations by Indian forces are a
part of the so-called "institutional mechanisms" set up
the governments of India and Myanmar to facilitate
ground level cooperation for control of "insurgent
groups". During the year 1995-96  five sectoral level
and three national level meetings were held between the
designated authorities of Myanmar and India to create
these mechanisms for "curbing and containing
insurgency" in the border region and opening up border
trade between India and Myanmar. Annual Report:  1995-
1996, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India,
New Delhi. Page 16 para 3.44)

If these Chin refugees are pushed back into Myanmar
they will be arrested as aliens as they do not have the
new identity cards issued by the SLORC since 1994. In
September 1994, Mizoram police had pushed back about
300 Chin/Burmese refugees into Myanmar. They were all
arrested and jailed. Several of them were later shipped
to forced labour camps in Sagaing region of Myanmar.
Mr. Rothla Peng who was pushed back in 1994 and escaped
from a forced labour camp in 1995 reported this to
UNHCR Delhi during his interview in June 1996.


=======================================================
                  What you can do?
=======================================================

Please write letters expressing concern over arrest,
torture and threat of deportation of refugees to
Myannmar.

A)   Request Indian authorities:
--------------------------------

     -    to stop the Mizoram police and CID in
          harassing, torturing and threating
          deportation of refugess in to Myannmar.

     -    to release all innocent Chin and other
          refugees from police cutody and detention.

     -    to give protection and succour to all
          refugees.

b)   Request UNHCR, Geneva.
---------------------------

     -    to take up the issue with Government of
          India.

     -    to protect and give succor to Burmese
          refugees in India.

     Mr.Dennis Mcnamara       -    00-41-22-739 7377
     Director,
     Protection Division
     UNHCR, Geneva,
     Switzerland.


To whom you should send the appeals:
------------------------------------
                                        Fax Numbers

1)   Sh.H.D.Dewe Gowda             -    301 4773
     Prime Minister of India
     7, Race Course Road
     New Delhi.                    

2)   Mr.I.K.Gujral                 -    301 1463
     Min.of External Affairs
     G-13, Maharani Bagh
     New Delhi.
     
3)   Mr.Inderjit Gupta             -    301 5750
     Home Minister
     North Block 
     New Delhi.
                         
4)   Chief Minister of Mizoram     -    91-(0)-389-22245
     Aizawl -796 001
     Mizoram   


======================================================
                Sample Letter of Appeal
======================================================

We express our deep concern over the arrest, torture
and threat of deportation by Mizoram police and CID of
Chin and other refugees from Burma who have taken
shelter in Mizoram, India because repression let loose
by SLORC on Chins and those who supports pro democracy
movement.

The reign of terror let loose by the Mizoram police is
going to affect an estimated 40,000 Chin refugees and
others in Mizoram state, India.  Deporting refugees
back into Myannar would be like sending them to
gallows.  They would be arrested, jailed tortured and
probably done away with.  Hence we request you:

-    to ask the Mizoram government to stop harassing,
     arresting, torturing and threatening deportation
     of Chin and other refugees from Burma.

-    to ask the Mizoram government to release all
     innocent people who have been arrested so far.

-    to compensate all those who were tortured.

(( Please do not repeat the same letter. This is only a
sample ! ))


****************************************
Deena
President
The Other Media
K-14(F.F), Green Park Extn.
New Delhi - 110016
Tel       :    6863830
               6856640
Fax       :    6858042
Email     :    deen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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