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Press freedom in Myanmar took another battering today when the courts used the colonial-era Official Secrets Act to jail two Reuters journalists for seven years. The journalists, Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been locked up in the notorious Insein Prison since their arrest in December 2017. The two Reuters reporters were ‘framed’ by police with the…

The Karen Community Worldwide welcomed the UN report calling for the Burma military to be referred to the International Criminal Court to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the country’s ethnic people. The Karen Community Worldwide issued a statement endorsed by 36 Karen organization to support the United Nation’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on…

Over 200 local residents fled to Myaing Gyi Ngu Camp on August 29 after clashes resumed between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 5 and the Tatmadaw in Hpapun Township on August 28. “Only [the residents] of Kan Nyi Naung Village arrived yesterday. I heard that the residents of nearby villages have also fled. They haven’t arrived here yet.…

Participants of the peace implementation process and the Karen National Union (KNU) are holding a workshop in Law Khee Lar (Lay Wah), Hpa-an District in the Karen State from August 30 to September 2 to review the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) process. Delegates of the KNU, the Union Peace Conference, the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC), the Joint Monitoring…

International human rights groups support the UN report call for the Burma military to be investigated by the International Criminal Court. The UN report accuses the Burma military of genocide against the Rohingya living in Rakhine state and said the military were “killing indiscriminately, gang-raping women, assaulting children and burning entire villages.” The report also concluded the Burma military had…

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) held its central executive committee meeting at the Thai-Burma border on Sunday (August 26) to discuss its continuous participation in the ongoing peace process. The Central Executive Committee member U Twan Zaw told Karen News that the UNFC reviewed the obstacles in the dialogue between the Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN) and the Union…

The Karen Refugee Committee claim huge cuts to funding for administration of the Thai-Burma border refugee camps makes it impossible for more than 1,000 camp workers to do their jobs effectively. The KRC, who manage the camps and coordinate service delivery to the Karen refugee camps said in their July report that its administration work would be hard-hit by the…

Five villagers died and six were injured after heavy rain triggered land explosion in Noh Li Village, which is located remotely from the town in western Hpapun Township, Karen State on July 27, according to a report from local residents. “The land explosion took place at 4 am on July 27. The villagers were staying inside their huts on their…

After second flooding hit the Karen State’s capital Hpa-an, two more relief camps have been opened in the city and the number of flood victims has increased by over 1,000, the Karen State Department of Disaster Management’s director U Lin Htut said. “The floodwater rose again so two more relief camps have been opened. The number of flood victims has…

The International Karen Organization (IKO) has urged the Karen National Union (KNU) to call an emergency congress to review and steer the ongoing peace and political processes. The IKO spokesperson Mahn Orlando told Karen News that the IKO gave the suggestion in a statement that was released at the end of its second conference, which was held in Omaha, Nebraska…