The 2014 census recognised 135 different ethnic tribes in Burma and said that 53 of those tribes were Chin people. The CNACC are worried that this will cause misunderstandings between different Chin tribes because their research shows that in reality there are far fewer Chin tribes.

When Chin scholars and leaders studied the Burmese government's records earlier this year they realised that eight sub-tribes had been counted as full tribes. Four of these sub-tribes were Naga, one was a Manipur sub-tribe, one was a Nepali sub-tribe and two were not Chin and were sub-tribes of unknown origin.

The CNACC statement also said that at least four of the tribes counted by the government had been counted twice by accident and recorded as eight tribes instead of four. Four more of the recorded tribes were not tribes at all, but the names of towns.

The CNACC only identified 36 Chin tribes rather than the 53 the government claimed to have identified. The 36 identified tribes also included tribe, clan and family names, but CNACC say it is not a definitive list and that the real number of Chin tribes in Burma may well be more than 36.

The CNACC will continue to record and investigate the number of Chin tribes, not just in Chin State but also in other states, to help avoid any misunderstandings between Chin people.

The Central Census Commission will publish the full results of the 2014 Myanmar population census in early January 2016.

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI