KNU

The Karen National Union (KNU), in its controlled Hpa-an District has been implementing a low cost housing project for families of disable soldiers from its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army and displaced villagers in the surrounding areas. The housing project is taking place at two places, Maw Poe Kay and Mae Tari. The construction totals a 100-houses –…

Giving the opening address at the 10th Karen Unity Seminar, the Karen National Union’s chairperson, Saw Mutu Sae Po called all the attending Karen representatives to work towards what he called ‘unity in diversity’. General Mutu Sae Po welcome the wide variety of Karen groups attending the event before saying. “We are divided in many ways and means…this disunity is…

A Karen National Union (KNU) delegation led by its Vice Chairperson Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein made a historic political tour to Karen communities in the Irrawaddy Delta in early May. The 21-member delegation team included members of KNU’s Central Executive Committee Padoh Saw Thamein Tun, Padoh Saw Myat Maung, Padoh Saw Hla Tun, Padoh Saw Liston and Padoh Saw Neh…

The Karen National Union’s vice chairperson, Naw Zipporah Sein, travelled to the Irrawaddy Delta and to Rangoon to hear what people thought and felt about the ongoing peace process. When Naw Zipporah Sein said that “the peace process needs to be inclusive,” her recent trip across Burma added meaning to her words. The soft-spoken, yet staunchly principled Vice Chairperson of…

The signing of a January 2012 preliminary ceasefire between Burma’s government and the Karen National Union has brought its own challenges with “new forms of abuse and local concerns emerging in the evolving security environment,” a report released by Karen Human Rights Group has found. The report, released yesterday, documents the conditions of human rights in South Eastern Burma over…

Karen National Union delegates led by its vice chairperson Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein met with Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss the current peace process at her house in Rangoon. During the May 9 meeting, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) exchanged views on the peace process with KNU officials. Padoh Naw…

A Karen National Union official urged a visiting Japanese Member of Parliament when planning development project for Karen State that there is an urgent need to consult and involve the KNU. Padoh Aung Win Shwe, head of the KNU Foreign Affair Department informed a Japanese Member of Parliament that his government needed to involve the KNU as well as the…

Government officials and local Karen National Union officials have decided to let villagers decide if a cement factory is to be built in their area. Following strong opposition by the villagers against the proposed cement factory planned for the Mi Kayin village area, Hpa-an, Karen State, the KNU and government officials told a public meeting that it was now up…

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…

The Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) selected its nine-member delegation team to draft a nationwide ceasefire agreement together with a government team. The NCCT, a technical team working on the nationwide ceasefire agreement on behalf of the ethnic armed resistance organizations previously agreed in its last meeting with the government’s Union Peacemaking Work Committee in Rangoon, to form a joint…