This mistrust is so strong that it is nurtured and passed on from generation to generation. “In the future, I will be a soldier in the KIA (Kachin Independence Army), to kill Burmese,” says a young boy, without batting an eye. We are in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin State; one of the states with the most refugee and internally displaced people (IDP) camps in the country, a direct consequence of the civil conflict. Here, people boycott the visits of the Chancellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is seen as a puppet of the government, designed to appease the West.
Distrust is much less pronounced in Chin State; a remote, mountainous area in western Myanmar. The Chin’s do not have land rich in resources like their northern neighbours (minerals in Kachin State or opium in Shan State). As a result, Chin State has long been neglected by governments and is now the least developed state in the country. The remoteness of the villages and the ethnic fragmentation have never allowed the Chins to stand together against the Bamar’s oppressive majority.
The authorities’ lack of interest in them has led to an ethnic indifference to power games. However, the Chins remain hopeful that the policies of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has a reputation for sanctity in this mountainous region, will allow them to prosper. Today, 70% of this neglected group live below the poverty line.