Burmese police detain Chin nationals in monastery
August 3, 2007: The Burmese police rounded up around 70 Chins from the Five Star sea port in Taketa Township in Yangon on July 17. They were waiting to board a ship leaving Kawt Taung town, Taninsary division, the southern Burma’s border with Thailand.
The police from the Yangon division detained 30 of the 70 people on suspicion that they were planning to cross the Burma-Thailand border illegally in search of hobs in Thailand or Malaysia. The rest were released later, said a source in Yangon.
The police are not terming the rounding up as ‘arrest’. They prefer to call it ‘rescue operation’, for they perceive that the raid was meant to check human trafficking, the source in Yangon added.
The detained Chins were said to have been kept in the ‘Natmauk Pariyatti’ monastery located in Monk Primary School No. (1), View Point Qtr(East), Taketa Township, Yangon.
On July 30, there were 24 people including three women in the monastery as some escaped the source said.
“Those under detention are sad. Today two women did not eat. They are just praying to God,” said a relative of victim.
The detainees are not being put on trial. Instead the police are planning to send them back to Chin state.
“The township officer has informed Chin State authorities. The family members of the arrested and local authorities are expected to come and help them return home safely”, a policeman in Yangon was quoted as saying.
Economic crisis, forced labour, human right abuses and the repression of the military rulers in Burma are forcing the people of Chin state to flee to neighbouring countries for a better life and safety. – khonumthung.
