News

Myanmar refugee lives in Indian border town

Mizoram, Oct 14 (EFE/EPA).- When Tial Hnin, a Burmese refugee in India, learned about a gunfight between guerrillas and the Myanmar Army back home, the first thing he did was to contact his two sons, who joined a revolutionary rebel group.The assistant professor at the University of Hakha, the capital of the Chin region in Myanmar, fled to the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram on Sep 10, after the military regime intensified the crackdown on civilians to suppress an anti-coup uprising.His two sons joined a civil militia, known as the Chinland Defense Force, one of the groups fighting the Myanmar military after the Feb.1 coup. (Camera: SANGZUALA HMAR). SHOT LIST: INTERVIEW WITH BURMESE REFUGEES IN THINGSAI VILLAGE, MIZORAM STATE, NEAR THE INDIA-MYANMAR BORDER. SOUND BITES: TIAL HNIN, A BURMESE REFUGEE IN INDIA; SUNG KI, WIFE OF TIAL HNIN; AND CHAN MYAE LWIN, ARCHITECT WORKING IN LUNGLER & THANTLANG TOWNS IN CHIN STATE (IN BURMESE). TRANSLATION: 1. TIAL HNIN, A BURMESE REFUGEE IN INDIA -We all worked very hard for making Myanmar a democratic state, and then just in a flash, it disappeared, I knew my sons have to stick around, stick around for the cause of democracy, they have to prove to themselves, prove it to whomever, that there is a cause to fight for. 2. SUNG KI, WIFE OF TIAL HNIN -We were physically, mentally tired. We were exhausted from running and refugee camps, being on high alert constantly. And now it looks the same, there's nowhere safe for us in Myanmar. 3.CHAN MYAE LWIN, ARCHITECT WORKING IN LUNGLER & THANTLANG TOWNS IN CHIN STATE, MYANMAR-We sought refuge here, I know New Ngharchhip is a small village with only around 100 household, how long can they provide us food. I don't know when I can go back and rebuild my career, I have just learned that my family back in Myanmar are safe at this moment, but for how long? I don't know.