Fragmented Aid and Resistance along the India–Myanmar Border

Description

Fragmented Aid & Resistance along the India–Myanmar Border is a powerful, ground-level account of how war, displacement, and politics collide in one of Asia’s most neglected border regions.

Based on field research in Mizoram (India) and Chin State (Myanmar), the book reveals how tens of thousands of Myanmar refugees and pro-democracy activists survive not through formal international protection, but through fragile networks of churches, ethnic associations, resistance groups, and diaspora funding. As India restricts UN agencies and foreign aid while tightening border controls, humanitarian support has become deeply shaped by identity, politics, and power rather than by need.

The authors show how ethnic kinship between the Chin and the Mizo initially created solidarity and sanctuary, but also how these same ties now produce exclusion—leaving smaller Chin sub-groups, non-Christian minorities, and politically unaffiliated families with far less access to food, education, healthcare, and safety. Inside Chin society itself, rival armed and political factions further politicize aid, turning schools, camps, and relief programs into contested spaces.

Set against the backdrop of India’s regional security strategy and Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, the book offers a rare inside look at how borders, geopolitics, and local power struggles shape everyday survival. It argues that displacement along the India–Myanmar border is not only a humanitarian crisis, but a political one—where colonial borders, state interests, and fractured resistance movements decide who lives with dignity and who is left behind.

Both a case study and a warning, Fragmented Aid & Resistance along the India–Myanmar Border is essential reading for anyone interested in refugee protection, cross-border conflicts, and the hidden politics of humanitarian aid.