Articles

Migrant schools working in Thailand’s border town of Mae Sot are bringing hopes of a better future for students, many of whom face huge challenges in just trying to survive. “Last Sat…tehr…day! They went to the stay…di…um! To watch the foot…bawl match!” Shwe Sin Win booms, her voice bouncing off the concrete walls of the small classroom – twenty children…

A Karen environmental group has voiced its concern over a Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) report detailing development plans for southeast Myanmar. The Thailand based Karen Environmental and Social Action Network Group (KESAN) raised the concerns in a document released to the press, saying that the 593-page document ‘Preparatory Survey for the Integrated Regional Development for Ethnic Minorities in the…

Burma’s ethnic groups have established an education network organization to preserve and protect ethnic minority languages in Burma. The organization, the Myanmar Indigenous Network for Education (MINE), was launched on February 21, to coincide with International Mother Language Day. “MINE is an exciting development for us. We have struggled for our language and cultural rights for so long and without…

Thai Burma border based Karen groups meet to discuss broad collaboration on a diverse set of issues, including emergency response and how to best represent the cross-border Karen community Karen Community Based Organizations (KCBO) based along the Thai-Burma border met on Monday February 17 – laying down four key principles with the aim of working together. Saw Eh Htoo Soe,…

Kayin People’s Party’s youth chairperson Saw Win Kyaw traveled to Norway this week to meet with Karen community groups living overseas. Saw Win Kyaw told Karen News that he is using the opportunity to share the KPP’s plans and to keep overseas community members up to date on developments within Burma. “I plan to go there to lay down the…

A major dam and highway project in Shan State is destroying the livelihoods of locals, displacing people from dozens of villages, leading to heavy militarization in the area and contaminating water supplies, according to a human rights group. Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) has expressed grave concerns over the impacts on locals of Burma’s first dam project to span the…

The Geba ethnic group currently incorrectly classified as a Karenni ethnic sub-group by the government has called on the government and relevant officials to correct their identity in the coming 2014 census, as the group recognized itself as Karen. The call was made in a statement released by representatives of the Geba ethnic group after a conference held on February…

The Mae Fah Luang Foundation has begun conducting surveys at Mae Ra Moe [Mae Rama Luang] and Mae La Oon refugee camps in Mae Hong Song province to gauge resident opinions on where they hope to live in the future. More than 70 MFLF-trained refugees started gathering data on February 3 as part of a month-long project to assess how…

The Burma government and a Thai company have agreed to pay compensation to farmers for damaging or taking their land while building the Asian Highway network link between Myawaddy and Kawkareik in Karen State. Saw Maw Htoo, Chairperson of the Karen National Union Kawkareik Township office, told Karen News that the KNU, Burma government, and company representatives held a meeting…

Karen leaders have met to discuss the classification of the Karen people in the upcoming national census. Padoh Saw Maw Htoo, chairperson of KNU in Kawkareik Township said in an interview with Karen News, that the KNU held a forum on February 10th to discuss the forthcoming census. “We called on the village heads and urged them at the meeting…