Karen News

The people of Burma will vote in the country’s national elections on Sunday November 8. In the build-up to the election international onlookers were concerned that a National League for Democracy (NLD) candidate was stabbed with a machete at a campaign event in Yangon, many citizens had been removed from voter lists, religious intolerance in Rakhine State and that many…

Thelma Gyi, the daughter of the charismatic Karen political leader, Saw Ba U Gyi, has called for the country’s ethnic people to stand up for their rights. “Unite, demand the legal recognition of your state borders. Demand an end to corruption, war crimes, land grabbing, selling and exploiting the land rights for personal gain.” Speaking just before Burma’s national elections…

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signing ceremony on Oct 15 was Thein Sein’s big chance to add some much-needed credence to the national elections to be held next Sunday. But despite Thein Sein and Gen Mutu Sae Po’s optimism, not everyone is convinced the NCA will bring stability to the country. In fact, ethnic groups say fighting continues unabated, killing civilians…

Burma’s government is under pressure to establish an independent inquiry into the treatment of ethnic Rohingya with a new report highlighting widespread human rights abuses that, “could constitute genocide.” A report conducted by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School on behalf of the human rights organisation Fortify Rights called for a United Nations inquiry…

As of October, twelve villagers had died and 61 villages suffered from cholera outbreak in Kawkareik and Kyain Seikgyi Townships near the Thai-Burma border – health workers from both countries are trying to stop the spread of the deadly disease. Statistics from the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) show that most of the villages affected are in areas…

Ethnic Shan human rights organisations have urged the Government to halt Burma Army attacks in Shan State, saying these attacks undermine hopes for a lasting peace agreement. The statement, which was signed by 18 organisations including the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women’s Action Network, said that recent attacks had already displaced 1,500 civilians. The mass displacement of…

MAHACHAI, Thailand (Myanmar Now) – The details of that morning 25 years ago are hazy but Than Than Aye remembers vividly the palpable excitement as an 18-year-old voting in her first election. She does not remember who she voted for in the 1990 elections- possibly Aung San Suu Kyi’s party – but recalls putting the voting slip in the ballot…

Despite its concerns about continuing fighting between the Burma Army and Shan and Kachin armed groups the United States released a statement praising the signing of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement between the government and eight armed groups. The United States in a statement released on 15 October by its spokesperson, John Kirby said that the “signing of the text of…

Ongoing Burma Army offensives in Shan and Kachin State are blocking key armed groups from signing a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, the community based organisation, the Women’s League of Burma warned. The NCA is set to be signed on October 15, but only eight armed groups have decided to sign it. “We do not trust Naypyidaw’s [government’s] peace process. It’s clearly…

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,…