The situation for refugees from Burma in Delhi has reached a survival crisis point. About 1,500 post-1988 refugees from Burma live in Delhi. An estimated 1,300 or more are of the Chin ethnic group from western Burma, with others from western Burma's Arakan State (estimated at 30 to 50), northern Burma's Kachin State (estimated at about 100), and elsewhere in Burma (estimated at 30 to 50). They have been gradually losing their subsistence allowance stipends from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to the point where such money will vanish by the end of 2004.
In October 2004, OSI grantee Project Maje met with members of Delhi's refugee community in the Vikaspuri neighborhood. The contacts took place in a session with representatives of refugee organizations, visits to two refugee housing units, and at a group assembly of refugees. This brief report is a summary of impressions from those contacts.