Myanmar News Links: Chins to hold press conference in Rangoon

A press conference on the Chin National Conference, convened in Hakha, 12-15 November, will be held in Rangoon on 5 December, according to a principal participant.

The venue however has yet to be announced. chin-conference

The Chin conference, participated by 570 representatives from the Chin National Front (CNF), 5 political parties and Civil Society Organizations plus MPs, Chin Affairs ministers from Sagaing, Magwe and Arakan and special invited guests, had passed several important resolutions, according to Victor Biaklian, a Chin working with Euro Burma Office (EBO), including:

• To call for the dissolution of religious ministry with an independent Commission for Religious Freedom (The ministry was said to have spent 6.234 billion kyat, 1988-2008, mostly on constructing Buddhist pagodas")
• For all Chins, officially designated as 53 "national races", to be registered simply as "Chin in the upcoming March-April census (According to official count, there are 135 "national races" in Burma)

Altogether, 10 papers on 10 topics, based on the Working Group for Ethnic Coordination (WGEC)'s 19 dialogue topics, were read out on the 1st day of the conference.

On the second day, the participants were divided into 10 groups, each to discuss its chosen topic.

"The third day was the summing up, drafting resolutions and reporting to the conference," said Mr Biaklian. "The final day ended with the adoption of the resolutions and the formation of a 45 member commission to work out Terms of References (TOR)."

The 10 topics discussed by the conference were:

•   Framework for Political Dialogue
•   Constitutional reform
•   Judicial
•   Religious Freedom
•   Education
•   Livelihood and economy
•   Gender
•   Refugees
•   53 Chin "national races"
•   Natural resources management

"I think state-based conferences like this should be encouraged to speed up the peace process," he concluded.