Year: 2013

The leader of the Karen militia that attacked the Burma Army in Myawaddy in late 2010 and in the resulting firefight forcing thousands of refugees into Thailand has been admitted to a Rangoon hospital for treatment of what is feared maybe cancer. Major General Saw Lah Pwe, also known as Na Kham Mway, is the leader of the Klo Htoo…

By Karen News Mae La Refugee Camp officials confirmed that a fire that tore through Zone C of Mae La Refugee camp destroyed as many as 120 houses. Camp officials confirmed to karen News that the fire broke out at around 1.30pm of Friday 27 December. Naw Blooming Night Zan, a spokesperson for the Karen Refugee Committee told Karen News…

A fire has destroyed an estimated 102 buildings in Mae La Refugee Camp, 57km north of the Thai town of Mae Sot. Camp officials say the fire broke out in Zone C at the Mae La Refugee Camp today at 1.30pm and lasted until around 3pm. Naw Day Day Poe, joint secretary of Mae La’s camp committee confirmed to Karen…

Burma Army units in Kachin State are looting the rice rations of internal displaced people (IDP’s), and have fired on a group of villagers in at least one occasion last month, reports the Free Burma Rangers, a frontline humanitarian organization. The FBR lists and dates the Burma Army took over a camp for displaced people. On 21 November 2013, Burma…

Environmental researchers have found village water sources close to a tin mining operation in Southern Burma have dangerous levels of lead and arsenic. Independent community-based researchers from Kamoethway, east of Dawei Town, working with an environmentalist expert from the Netherlands carried out water testing in villages close to a tin mining operation and found that the villagers water sources are…

In what human rights groups are calling a blow to Burma’s ongoing reform process, two Kachin IDP’s arrested under Burma’s Unlawful Association Act law have had their jail sentence increased from two years to seven years – the reasons for the increase are as yet unclear. Burma Army units who arrested them last month are also alleged to have tortured…

Since Burma’s military junta officially ceded power to a quasi-civilian government in 2011, the country has received much praise and applause from the international community for reforms it initiated. A series of peace talks with various ethnic armed groups have been held and ceasefire accords with most, if not all, of the major ethnic armed groups have been signed to…

January 2014 marks two years since the Karen National Union signed a temporary ceasefire agreement with Burma’s military, controlled government, and it is time now to reflect on what this agreement has so far achieved in real terms for the Karen people. On the positive side our people can now travel more freely because the fighting has stopped. This means…

The 2014 Karen New Year celebrations will be the first time the event is not marked with a military parade or a demonstration of the ethnic armed groups fighting prowess. All Karen armed groups, except the Karen Democratic Karen Benevolent Army have agreed to hold 2014 New Year as a celebration of unity. The Karen National Union, Karen Peace Council,…

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that of the world’s 215 million child labourers, 115 million are involved in hazardous work, including 41 million girls and 74 million boys; 53 million are aged 5-14, and 62 million are aged 15-17. The number of child labourers engaged in hazardous work between the ages of 15-17 is increasing. According to a 2011…