Karen News

The Burma Army has kidnapped and tortured a man from Wan Kawn Yao, Shan State, local villagers claim. The villagers have written a letter to the local Burma Army commander demanding the return of the man, named as 33 yer-old farmer Sai Thein Tun. The villagers claim that Sai Tun was kidnapped on September 10 this year while on his…

Fighting between soldiers from the government’s militia, the Border Guard Force and a splinter group of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army occurred yesterday at around 10am and continue into today on the old Kawkareik-Myawaddy Road. A BGF officer confirmed the firefight between soldiers from the BGF’s Battalion 1017 and the DKBA’s splinter group led by Bo Nar Ma Kyar [Lieutenant…

Villagers from villages along Eastern Donna Range gathered at Htee Mae Wah Kee village in Myawaddy Township on October 4th to show their support for the three Karen armed groups who have decided to sign the ceasefire agreement with the government. The Karen armed groups – Karen National Union (KNU), Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and KNU/KNLA – Peace Council…

Burma’s Government is engaged in the illegal displacement of thousands of its own citizens, a leading human rights organization has concluded. The New York based Physicians for Human Rights collected evidence of 8,000 people being relocated against their will to make way for dam projects in Shan State. One example cited in the report was the Upper Paunglaung dam, which…

More than forty Karen organizations issued a statement critical of the Karen National Union after it had decided to sign a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government that excluded the majority of ethnic armed groups. Seven ethnic armed organizations, including the Karen National Union, decided to go ahead and sign the NCA with the government without the full support of…

A statement released by the United Nationalities Federal Council has warned that ongoing conflict in Burma’s Kachin and Shan States is blocking negotiations for a nationwide ceasefire agreement. The UNFC noted that it had held at least 27 meetings with the Burma Government over the last two years to set a framework national agreement, without success. “UNFC sees that in…

A Burma Army attack on a village in Southern Shan State, that left two villagers dead was tantamount to a war crime, a human rights organisation claims. The attack occurred on September 12, when about 100 Burma Army soldiers attacked Nawng Pa Deb village. The Shan Human Rights Foundation, a human rights advocacy organisation based in Thailand, said that the…

On the second day of a three-day summit in the Northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, seven ethnic armed organizations have decided to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government – 17 armed groups attended the meeting. According to a tentative agreement between the government and the ethnic armed organizations the NCA it was planned to sign it in…

The people of Burma will go the polls on November 8, 2015. Karen News talked to a wide range of people to get their views on the election and what they hoped it would deliver. Many voters In Burma remain skeptical that the elections will be free and fair. With the 25% reserved for the military in the Parliament, people…

Government officials have stopped a Karen community group from holding a conference to discuss the impact of development projects on local communities. Youth Circle (YC), a civil society group working on youth and social issues had planned to release the findings of a report at a three-day conference it had organized in Hpa-an, Karen State last week. State government officials…