‘A humanitarian disaster in the making’ in Myanmar’s Chin State

Men in embattled town of Mindat flee to the hills as military steps up crack down on resistance to February 1 coup.

On May 15, Biak Thang hastily said goodbye to his wife and child, grabbed a few days’ worth of food and supplies and ran to the forest. “We heard that [military forces] are arresting men, so most of the men are escaping and only women and children are left,” said Biak Thang, who asked to use a pseudonym for security reasons. “I don’t feel safe. I only heard about war-displaced people in the media, but we are war-displaced people now,” he said from the wooded hills on the outskirts of Mindat, a town in Myanmar’s Chin State.