Articles

Refugees on the Thai Burma border are furious over what they perceive as ‘bias’ in the United Nations High Commission for Refugees resettlement program. Refugees from Nu Poe Camp, based in Thailand’s Tak’s province, on the Thai-Burma border, marched in protest, claiming that there was discrimination in UNHCR’s third country resettlement program. Around 150 refugees took place in the January…

The National League for Democracy has hit the campaign early in an attempt to overturn Burma’s contentious National Constitution that effectively bars its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi from the country’s presidency. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson of the National Leaugue of Democracy (NLD) party, called for the support of ethnic groups in her push for constitutional reform, in…

An international human rights organization urged the Burma government to immediately stop attacks and abuses against Rohingya Muslims in the country’s Rakhine State. In an interview with Karen News, Matthew Smith, the executive director of the international human rights group Fortify Rights stressed that Burma’s government should immediately stop its persecution of the country’s Muslim community. “The local authorities are…

In what is bad news for the 130,000 refugees living on the Thai Burma border, the Thailand’s Meteorological Department has forecast that the country’s cold weather is to continue into late January. The deputy director of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, Mr Oparg Karankawinpong, confirmed on Thursday for reporters, that as many as 63 people in 24 provinces have died…

In an interview with Karen News, Nan Dah Eh Kler, Chairperson of the Karen Women Organization (KWO), argued that the Burma’s Government’s reform process was being undermined by a culture of impunity and sexual violence in the Burma Army. Referring to a report released by the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), which documented over 100 cases of sexual violence committed…

The British Government has been criticized by a prominent human rights advocacy group after it’s decision to fund military training for the Burma Army, who have been accused of ongoing human rights violations. In a report titled ‘Training War Criminals? – British Training of the Burmese Army’, Burma Campaign UK said the decision to spend at least £87,850 (approximately 4.7…

UNICEF has pointed out that Burma’s reformist government, led by President and ex-general Thein Sein, has failed to adequately increase education and health spending and to protect child rights, as government funds continue to be dominated by defence spending. Two comprehensive 2013 reports by UNICEF noted that while Burma’s budget had increased by 81% in the last two years, health…

More than 100 women and girls have been raped by Burma’s military since 2010, according to a report released by the Women’s League of Burma. The Thailand-based Women’s Leaugue of Burma (WLB) said in a report released today that 47 of the cases documented were gang rapes and 28 of the women were either killed or later died of their…

Government troops fired artillery shells into Karen village areas in Northern Papun Township, KNU sources told Karen News. No villagers were injured in the shelling. On January 7, Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #401 fired at least three artillery shells into civilian areas in Northern Papun Township, KNU sources from Papun District told Karen News. Karen News is led…

Karen representatives from across Burma held a two-day forum from January 9 to 10, in Hpa-An, Karen State, with the objective of “forming a united position of all the Karen nationals of Burma, acquiring true Karen population figures and using the correct names of Karen sub-groups for the 2014 Population Census Enumeration.” Karen State is officially called ‘Kayin State’ by…