Karen State

During his trip to Karen State, Parliament speaker, Thura Shwe Mann, promised farmers to look into land confiscation cases in the region once they are submitted to the House. Thura Shwe Mann, chairman of the Pyithu Hluttaw (House of Representatives) was on a visit to Karen State and took the time to meet with local farmers in Hpa-An on April…

Today marked World Malaria Day, and while the global community celebrated significant declines in moratlity rates from malaria since 2000, a new drug-resistant form of the parasite has one leading expert warning of a potential health disaster. In the last ten years, the fight against malaria has seen dramatic decreases in deaths. A concerted effort across the world to combat…

Karen political and community groups representing Karen communities from across Burma will hold a Karen National Convention in 2014 to discuss the cooperation between Karen armed organisations and political parties in ensuring there is unity going into the future. The Karen Unity and Peace Committee (KUPC) held a meeting on April 10 in Pyin Oo Lwin that led to the…

Residents of Mi Kayin village, Hpa-an, Karen State, are once again united to oppose a proposed cement factory planned to be built near their village by the Myanmar Ji Dong Cement Company Limited. Saw Nyan Win, a Mi Kayin villager said in an interview with Karen News that residents are planning to take their opposition to the proposal to build…

Villagers celebrating the New Year Water festival ended up in hospital after eating special fragrant rice. More than 200 villagers from Paw Baw Kho village, in Myawaddy Township, Karen State were admitted to Myawaddy Hospital’s intensive care unit suffering from food poisoning. The mass poisoning happened after villagers ate specially prepared fragrant rice (Thingyan rice) served at the Myanmar New…

More than 130 villagers from 20 villages in Hlaingbwe and Hpa-An Township signed a petition letter and sent to the state parliament demanding a solution to the dispute over farmland that was granted concession to businessman for a rubber plantation. Daw Nan Say Awa, a member of parliament from the Pyithu Hluttaw [House of Representatives], Karen State said that the…

Burma’s government and the Thai company involved in the construction of the Asia Highway have paid compensation to landowners affected by the construction, but some landowners have claimed that they did not receive the compensation that the authorities initially promised. The landowners had their land damaged by the building of the highway between Myawaddy to Thin-gan-nyi-naung and then through to…

General Baw Kyaw Heh, the Karen National Liberation Army’s vice-chief-of-staff, in an exclusive question and answer interview with Karen News discussed the consequences of mega- development projects, hydro-dams, armed conflict, corruption, the current ceasefire, peace talks and the militarization of Burma. Why are you opposed to a dam? Many reasons – too many dams bring too many problems, costs and…

Women from the largest refugee camp in Thailand’s express their concerns and dreams as the world marks international women’s day. Naw Kaw, 44, a mother of three and a Karen refugee, sits down, shielding her face from the midday sun. She has been in Mae La refugee camp for two decades. She fled Burma after being used by the Burma…

The Karen Women Organization (KWO) has called for the postponement of Burma’s nationwide census, scheduled to run this month, until the data classifications are deemed appropriate to ethnic groups and the political situation in the country is stable. Naw K’nyaw Paw, general secretary of KWO told Karen News that all its senior representatives attended the KWO annual meeting agreed and…