Mission
CHRO works to protect and promote human rights through monitoring, research, documentation, education and advocacy on behalf of indigenous Chin people and other oppressed and marginalized communities in Myanmar.
Vision
Through our work, we envision a meaningful social change and the full realization of the enjoyment of human rights where the equal dignity of all human beings is respected and upheld in a free, just and democratic society.
Objectives
- To provide accurate and reliable information about the human rights situation facing Chin and other marginalized communities in Myanmar
- To protect and promote human rights and democratic principles
- To empower people to defend and promote their human rights
Organizational Background:
The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization legally registered in Canada. It was formed in 1995 on the India-Burma border by a group of Chin activists committed to promoting democracy in Burma and raising international awareness of previously unreported human rights abuses being perpetrated against the Chin people and in western Burma by the Burmese military regime. The scope CHRO’s activities have expanded since the days of its founding to cover not just monitoring and documentation but also internationally-focused advocacy campaigns, capacity-building trainings, and support for grassroots community initiatives. CHRO is the primary rights-based advocacy organization for the Chin people and has worked with Chin communities throughout the world continuously since the very beginning. Over the years, CHRO has nurtured working relationships with the Chin, developed the institutional capacity, and become a trusted voice of the Chin people and a leading and respected human rights organization for Chin communities throughout the world.
At present CHRO is actively working and engage in;
- Human rights documentation
- International Campaign and Advocacy
- Humanitarian Assistance (crossborder food aid)
- Capacity building (special focus on civil and political rights and women empowerment)
- Refugee Issue
- Civil Society Building
FUNDERS AND DONORS OF CHIN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
CHRO team would like to gratefully acknowledge that the important works of Chin Human Rights Organization in the past and present is supported by the following institutions and several individuals;
CHRO Operating Cost including publication and international Lobby and Campaign
- National Endowment for Democracy (Washington D.C)
- Christian Solidarity Worldwide (London, UK)
- Open Society Institute (New York)
Human Rights Training and Capacity Building
- United Nations Voluntary Fund
- The Netherlands Center for Indigenous Peoples
- Asia Indigenous People Pact
Refugee Protection & Supports
- Foreign Affairs Department of Chez Republic
- Inter Pares (Canada)
- Swedish Refugee Aid (Stokholm, Sweden)
- Global Health Access Program (Berkeley, Callifornia)
- Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (London, U.K)
Cross Border Food Relief
- Open Society Institute (New York)
- Primate World Relief and Development Fund (Toronto)
- Ottawa Baptist Association
- Global Health Access Program
- Burma Relief Center
- Children on the Edge (London, U.K)
- Christian Solidarity Worldwide
- Chin Community Thailand
- Chin Community Singapore
- Chin Community Malaysia
- Chin Community Australia
- Chin Community Denmark
- Chin Community Norway
- Chin Community Germany
Donors And Contributors From Chin Churches
- Ottawa Chin Baptist Church (Canada)
- Chin Baptist Mission Church (Washington DC)
- Chin Baptist Church (Dallas)
- Chin Baptist Church (Battle Creek, USA)
- Chin Evangelical Baptist Church (Indianapolis)
- Chin Evangelical Baptist Church (Dallas)
- Mizo Christian Fellowship of Indiana (Indianapolis)
- Indiana Chin Baptist Church (Indianapolis)
- Victoria Chin Baptist Church (Australia)
- Vancouver Chin Baptist Church (Vancouver, Canada)
- Melbourne Chin Christian Fellowship (Australia)
- Norway Chin Christian Fellowship (Norway)
- Frankfurt Lai Christian Fellowship (Germany)
- Chin Christian Fellowship of Denmark (Denmark)
- Lai Baptist Church (Maryland State, USA)
- Burmese Revival Fellowship of Dallas
- Chin Community of New Zealand
- Chin Baptist Fellowship of America (A group of 7 Chin Churches in America)
Publication
- Euro Burma Office (Brussels, Belgium)
- Chin Community of Japan
- Chin Youth Organization
- Association for Democratic Development in Burma
THE CHIN PEOPLE OF BURMA: A VERY BRIEF BACKGROUND
Chin people are one of the major ethnic groups in the Union of Burma. They occupy the Chin State as well as other Chin inhabited plains in Sagaing division, Magwe division, and Arakan state. The Chin people are one of the founding members of present Union of Burma through Panglong Agreement signed on February 12, 1947.
Today Chin people in Burma are not represented in any form of political decision-making in the national, state or local administration. The State Peace and Development Council which made its way to power through a bloody coup in 1988 has ruled the country at gunpoint. Preoccupied by the idea of “national unity or unifying the country,” Burma’s military regime has embarked on a policy of creating a single national identity through assimilating all identifiable ethnic nationalities into the mainstream Burman society, a dominant ethnic group with which the regime identifies itself.
The net result of this extreme policy has been the displacement of tens of thousands of Chin people to neighboring countries. It is estimated that at least 60,000 Chin refugees are living in India while more than 20,000 Chin refugees are living in Malaysia, several thousands more are scattered in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as refugees to escape political suppression, forced labor, religious persecution, sexual violence and other forms of human rights violations.