Up to 100,000 people in one of Burma’s poorest regions face starvation after renewed food shortages triggered by a bad harvest, a report due for release this week warns. “Many villagers face two options: either to migrate elsewhere in search of refuge or food, or to seek labour in neighbouring regions and find a way to transport rice back to their families,” said the report. A farmers’ representative told HART: “600 people are having to make a road through the jungle with only axes and knives. They are exhausted. If we have to make roads to obtain food aid, please can we have some assistance with road building?”.
Chin state – a predominately Christian region – is one of the most neglected areas in Burma, facing decades of human rights abuses under military rule. Rights groups have reported widespread incidents of forced labour, arbitrary detention, torture and religious repression. Up to 100,000 Christian refugees have fled to neighbouring India, where they have faced further discrimination in exile.
Chin state has just allowed HART to open their first health centre in the region. Many challenges remain in this poverty stricken region, including poor access to health, education and limited infrastructure, such as roads, as well the obvious political hurdles.