Protest

Anyone working for social justice in Burma should be disappointed by the mainstream media’s coverage of Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Canada last week. Given ongoing military abuses throughout Burma’s ethnic regions, it was frustrating to see headlines focusing again and again that Canada must press Aung San Suu Kyi regarding her government’s brutal treatment of Rohingya Muslim communities…

Today, while the peace dialogue in Nay Phyi Daw resumes for its second round, displaced Karen villagers in remote areas of northern Karen State staged a protest over the Burma Army occupying their lands and preventing their safe return. The protest took place at Ei Tu Hta, an internally displaced people camp situated on the Salween River in Papun district.…

Angered over recent electricity price increases and frequent blackouts, over 200 people staged a protest on May 1 in Myawaddy township, Kayin State. Protesters complained that the recent change in power distributors was not handled transparently, and said the new arrangement is not beneficial to the public. “In the past, we only had to pay 4.30 baht [per kWh] for…

Karen people living in the USA gathered in front of the White House in Washington DC to call for sanctions to be continued to be imposed on Burma. The Karen began their protest outside the White House on November 11, 2016. The more than 700 Karen protesters said that the lifting of sanctions on Burma by the US government was…

Burma Campaign UK, a human rights advocacy group has called for the release of U Gambira, a prominent political activist arrested in January, and “all the remaining political prisoners in Burma. U Gambira was arrested on January 19th this year while visiting Burma from his home in Thailand to obtain a new passport. U Gambira is in Obo prison while…

A coalition of Karen environmental community based groups, the Karen River Watch, joined with local villagers to protest the building of hydro-power dams on the Salween River. The protesters called for all mega hydro-power projects on Salween River to stop. The protest marked the International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams, held each year on March 14. Representatives…

Student leaders from the All Burma Federation of Student Union’s have announced they will boycott the country’s judicial system and have announced a “Failed Law” calling for a change to the 2008 constitution. The campaign was sparked by a crackdown by Burmese authorities on protesters against a joint Chinese and Burma Army copper mine project in Letpadaung in December 2014.…

In spite of recent reforms and the release of political prisoners, the numbers still in jail in Burma are significant, a human rights advocacy organisation based in the United Kingdom has said. Burma Campaign UK, said it had launched a campaign to highlight the issue of political imprisonment in Burma, referring to the case of Naw Ohn Hla, who was…

Human Rights organisations have expressed growing alarm over the Burma Government continuing to use draconian legislation to imprison political opponents. A report by Fortify Rights and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic found that police used unwarranted and excessive force in cracking down on civilians protesting against development projects in Letpadan on March 10. Police “brutally punched, kicked,…

About 700 migrant workers from the Garman (aka A1) garment factory in Mae Sot, Thailand staged a protest over seven demands. Karen News is led to understand that the factory workers have been in negotiations since July 4, with the factory owners and officials but have yet to reach a settlement. A worker organiser, Kyi Soe, told Karen News that,…