Articles

A number of regional human rights organisations have hit out at land confiscation in Burma by companies and individuals with links to the government. The Asian Human Rights Commission has slammed a “frenzy” of land grabs in Burma by the government or government-linked companies, stating that abuses of power continue in spite of the country’s much heralded reforms. AHRC, which…

A human rights advocacy group based in Britain has launched a campaign demanding the British Government intervene to secure the release of a jailed journalist in Burma. Burma Campaign UK has demanded that Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, “personally intervene” to secure the release of the Democratic Voice of Burma journalist, Zaw Pe, who was sentenced to one year imprisonment…

A Karen National Union (KNU) delegation led by its Vice Chairperson Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein made a historic political tour to Karen communities in the Irrawaddy Delta in early May. The 21-member delegation team included members of KNU’s Central Executive Committee Padoh Saw Thamein Tun, Padoh Saw Myat Maung, Padoh Saw Hla Tun, Padoh Saw Liston and Padoh Saw Neh…

A row of young women lie next to their newborn babies at Mae Tao Clinic’s Reproductive Health In-Patient ward on the Thai-Burma border. Most of the 42 women are young migrant workers, in their late teens or early twenties, and earning barely enough to live on, they wonder how they will be able to afford to raise a child. One…

The Karen National Union’s vice chairperson, Naw Zipporah Sein, travelled to the Irrawaddy Delta and to Rangoon to hear what people thought and felt about the ongoing peace process. When Naw Zipporah Sein said that “the peace process needs to be inclusive,” her recent trip across Burma added meaning to her words. The soft-spoken, yet staunchly principled Vice Chairperson of…

The signing of a January 2012 preliminary ceasefire between Burma’s government and the Karen National Union has brought its own challenges with “new forms of abuse and local concerns emerging in the evolving security environment,” a report released by Karen Human Rights Group has found. The report, released yesterday, documents the conditions of human rights in South Eastern Burma over…

Karen National Union delegates led by its vice chairperson Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein met with Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss the current peace process at her house in Rangoon. During the May 9 meeting, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) exchanged views on the peace process with KNU officials. Padoh Naw…

A Karen National Union official urged a visiting Japanese Member of Parliament when planning development project for Karen State that there is an urgent need to consult and involve the KNU. Padoh Aung Win Shwe, head of the KNU Foreign Affair Department informed a Japanese Member of Parliament that his government needed to involve the KNU as well as the…

In a statement released to mark Press Freedom Day, Human Rights Watch condemned Burma’s government over the arrest and intimidation of journalists and called for new media laws to protect and promote a free press. Phil Robertson, HRW’s deputy Asia director called for press freedom. “International praise for expanding media freedoms in Burma has been undercut by arrests and intimidation…

Government officials and local Karen National Union officials have decided to let villagers decide if a cement factory is to be built in their area. Following strong opposition by the villagers against the proposed cement factory planned for the Mi Kayin village area, Hpa-an, Karen State, the KNU and government officials told a public meeting that it was now up…