The names of people, who have settled abroad, have been deleted from family registration cards, as of October 2009 by military authorities in Chin state, Burma.

The immigration department in Hakha Township has been checking and collecting all the names of those who are now in other countries, and then deleting their names from their respective family registration cards.

“It is related to the 2010 general elections. The checking was being done in Hakha and now it is being done in remote villages,” a local in Hakha said.

In fact, the military authorities had allowed substitute voters to cast votes in the referendum to approve the constitution in May 2008, but this time it will not be allowed.

Besides, recently the junta seized most of the national identity cards of Indian-Burmese, who have been living legally since the independence of Burma from British rule.

“We have been ordered to seize some identity cards, which are made on an understanding and are not official,” a member of the immigration in Hakha said.

Although Khonumthung News made inquiries as to what “making identity cards by understanding” meant, he did not elaborate.

An Indian-Burmese said, “I had the right to vote in the 2008 referendum using identity cards. But now they have seized all we have so we cannot take part in the forthcoming 2010 general elections.”

Similarly, in other parts of Chin state military authorities are busy checking family registration cards and making identity cards for those above 18 years of age.

The people from Chin state, who left, are staying in Malaysia, India, Norway, Denmark, USA, Canada and Germany as refugees. There are about 20,000 to 30,000 refugees in Malaysia.