Chin state, Burma: The Chin National Front (CNF) has sent a survey team to scout for land to build army camps on new sites for their soldiers and families, in Than Tlang Township, Chin state, Burma.
The CNF scout team are: Major Thawng Za Lian; a retired Burmese army officer and CNF’s military committee member of affairs, Major Solomon; secretary of CNF’s military affairs, Hrang Tin Thai; brigadier general, Colonel Than Thun; army chief of the Chin National Army (CNA), Second Army Chief of CAN and Second Lieutenant Khin Maung Lay; secretary of family affairs.
An engineer from Mizoram, India, has been hired to make arrangements for hydroelectric power for the new camps.
“We plan to move later this year. But it needs to be supported by local authorities and civilians,” said Major Solomon.
A elder from Tlanglo said, he ‘warmly welcomes CNF camps’ in his area, and ‘supports CNF all the way’.
This decision has followed an agreement between President Thein Sein and the CNF.
The survey team was welcomed by Tlanglo villagers, in Than Tlang Township, who prepared a feast for the new arrivals, near the Indo-Burma border. A public consultation meeting with elders and community leaders was recently held in the village by representatives for the CNFsurvey team.
The CNF was formed in 1988 to defend the rights of all Chin people. Approximately, 70 CNF soldiers have died during fighting between 1988 to 2012, since the formation of the Chin National Army (CNA).
