Friday, May 18, 2012

Census planned for Chins in Mizoram State

0 comments
 
Friday, 18 May 2012 14:08 Mizzima News

(Mizzima) – The Chin Society of Mizoram will conduct a census this month of Chin people from Burma who reside in Mizoram State in India.

Chin women in a file photograph

A statement issued by the Aizawl-based Chin Society of Mizoram said the census would start before the end of May and that the lists would be sent to the government of Burma as well as the U.N. Office in New Delhi, according to an article on Thursday in the Chinland Guardian.

An estimated 70,000 to 100,000 Chins live in Mizoram State after having fled persecution and human rights violations perpetrated by Burma's successive military regimes, the article said. The figure represents more than 10 percent of the total population of Mizoram State.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and Burmese government are preparing to conduct the first national census of Burma in 31 years starting in April 2014.

Salai Za Uk Ling, of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), told the IRIN news agency this week a large number of Chins are not able to speak their own ethnic language any longer, and they are in danger of being mistaken for or classified as Burman.

Currently home to an estimated population of 500,000 people, Burma's Chin State has long seen mass out-migration as a result of various forms of repressive measures, pushing thousands of people to neighbouring countries including India and even as far as Malaysia, which is estimated to host around 50,000 Chin refugees, the article said.

Leave a Reply