Karen

More than 150 representatives and observers from 40 Karen organizations from inside Burma, along the Thai-Burma border and overseas who took part in the 9th Karen Unity Seminar voiced their concern that there has been a significant decrease in humanitarian aid for communities at risk in Karen state. Karen representatives at the Seminar expressed their concerns that the Karen National…

More than 150 representatives from 40 different Karen organizations attended the 9th Karen National Unity Seminar held from May 27 to 31 in Karen State. The seminar discussed ways to strengthen unity among all Karen people in the context of the current political situation in Burma. Seminar attendees confirmed their commitment to building national unity on the basis of ethnic…

Colonel Ner Dah Mya, a son of General Saw Bo Mya, met and discussed with Burmese civil society groups in Sydney during a recent visit to Australia. The Australian Karen Organization (AKO) organized the meeting and discussion that was attended by 30 people from Burma including ethnic nationalities such as Kachin, Mon and Karen living in Sydney. Members of the…

Nant Thandar Aung from the Rangoon based Karen Women Empowerment Group (KEWG) is the winner of the 2012 Pado Mahn Sha Young Leader Award. The Phan Foundation announced its award winner at the 9th anniversary of Karen Unity Seminar held in the Karen National Union’s Hpa-an District on May 31. Saw Say Say Phan presenting the award to Nant Thandar…

The Burma Army has issued an ultimatum to Karen ethnic armed groups to remove their flags by midday Wednesday or suffer the consequences. The Commander of Burma Army Light Infantry Division, Brigadier General Htin Maw Tun, has ordered armed groups in the Myawaddy district to take down their organizations’ flags that are flying at vacant lands owned by the organization…

International health organisations estimate southeastern Burma’s health infrastructure as one of the regions worst with as many as 400,000 people displaced there. Karen villagers deprived of health care for decades are hoping that following a series of meetings between officials from the Karen Department of Health and Welfare and the government’s Health Directorate for Karen State, plans to deliver the…

Following three days of discussion representatives from organizations working on refugee issues along the Thai-Burma border, refugee representatives, civil society groups, political leaders agreed that the current situation in Burma is not safe for refugees to return. Over 40 representatives including the United Nation High Commission on Refugee, Refugee Camps Committees, The Border Consortium, Karen National Union, Thai official from…

The participation of women in future peace talks between the ethnic groups and the central government will be critical contribution to achieving lasting peace in Burma. Durable peace goes beyond the mere absence of conflict, and whilst the Burmese military and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) can put a halt to actual fighting, greater participation by civil society (including…

Saw Albert, the field director of the Karen Human Rights Group, in an exclusive interview with Karen News, said that since Burma’s 2010 election, changes in the government’s administration has allowed a lot of business and development projects to come into the country that are stealing land from ethnic villagers’. “Many people think that Burma has opened up and the…

Karen musicians from across Burma and performing under the name the Klo and Kweh Music Team arrived in Canada for series of performances this month. The nine member Klo and Kweh Music Team now touring Canada includes the respected and well know players Winston, Win Htwe, Bo Tauk, Boy, Stephen and singers Marvelous, Smaller, Linda and Hackett. The music team…