The Burmese military authorities have forcibly taken away most of the relief material, meant for local Chin people, who had suffered due to a fire in their village last April. The relief material had been supplied by their supporters from abroad.
 
According to a report, the Aizawl-based Women’s League of Chin Land (WLC) had provided relief material to the villagers of Hmunpi Kawn of Tidim Town, Chin State in western Burma. These villagers had suffered damages due to a fire last April. However, the Burmese military authorities have grabbed half of the relief material meant for the villagers.
 
The WLC had collected some donations, including books, pencils, pens, peanuts, sugar and medicines from Aizawl-based Burmese organizations, and then they had given it to the villagers of Hmunpi Kawn, in the first week of June 2009.
 
However, military personnel from IB 269, based in Tidim have taken away half of the relief items, as they claimed that the relief materials were given by illegal organizations.
 
"When we reached the village, we met the village headman and gave all the relief materials, after that we returned to the border area. However, the military personnel heard about us and they went immediately to the village and took half of the relief material," a woman, who went to the village and is a member of WLC said.
 
A local said, "It is very sad. The military personnel do not think of helping others, despite our village being reduced to rubble.  Such an attitude will not be in evidence in other countries, I think. Not only that, they even tried to arrest those who had come to our village to give us the relief material."
 
The SPDC government has no policy to help its countrymen and rarely accepts relief from other countries. In Chin state, the authorities have ordered the people not to accept any aid from outside the country, so some organizations abroad provide aid for famine-affected people and for victims of fire secretly.
 
The authorities have earlier also stolen many relief funds and materials meant for the victims of Cyclone Nargis from the Irrawaddy Delta  areas in May 2008, with the help of the government controlled Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and higher authorities.