Karen News

The Abbot from Dhamaduta monastery in Wanat Chaung village, Hmawbi Township, Yangon donated more than 10,000 sets of Burma school textbooks to Mae Sot based migrant learning centers and schools in displaced communities along the Thai Burma border. Ko Zaw Thu Ra, who made the donation on behalf of Dr. Ashin Hsay Keinda from Dhamaduta monastery, told Karen News that…

An extensive investigation by British newspaper, The Guardian, has uncovered evidence of endemic use of “slave” labour in Thailand’s fishing industry, with migrant workers being “beaten, tortured, and killed.” The investigation said that the 270,000 migrant workers in Thailand’s fishing industry were vulnerable to human trafficking and rampant exploitation in a racket involving brokers, boat captains and corrupt Thai authorities.…

International civil society organisations, human rights watchdogs and advocacy groups have issued a united call for Burma’s government to drop its proposed legislation that places restrictions on an individual’s right to freedom of religion. An alliance of 81 organisations pressed that Burma’s government, led by President U Thein Sein, scrap the Religious Conversion Law, saying that it is an attack…

To commemorate World Day Against Child Labour, Karen News spoke to child workers who scrape a meager living from collecting garbage in the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot. Too poor to go to school, they work unnoticed, working long days to help support their families. The children told Karen News of their hopes, dreams and daily concerns. Hla Hla…

Child migrant workers in the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot struggle to earn enough to survive, working in dirty, difficult and dangerous work, many miss out on an education and are vulnerable to exploitation. To mark World Day Against Child Labour, Karen News followed the story of one of Mae Sot’s child migrant workers, a garbage collector. Ali, 10,…

Karen community groups have for the first time have called on the Karen National Union to show more transparency and openness in their ongoing peace talks with the Burma government. Six Karen civil society groups based in Burma and overseas made their call for the meetings between the KNU and government to be more open so people know and understand…

Burma focused international human rights advocacy organisations, youth groups and unions, have marked the third anniversary of the conflict in Kachin State by urging the Burma’s government to commit to peace. The Kachin State conflict, which first erupted, following a Burma Army offensive against the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) in June 2011, shattered a 17-year ceasefire and has so far…

On June 5, 2014, the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) organised an event commemorating the World Environment Day in one of the indigenous Karen areas on the Salween River in Mutraw District (Papun) in Burma. A total of 200 people, including students, youth, parents, teachers and community leaders, attended. The Karen people traditionally rely on the surrounding environment…

Burma Army offensives in Kachin State are undermining the peace process, an ethnic women’s organisation has claimed. The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) expressed concern of the recent escalation in Burma Army attacks in Kachin and Shan States, which had led to “fresh displacement and suffering” of local civilians in a statement released today. “These systematic operations to seize control…

Burma’s military is engaging in systemic torture against civilians in its ongoing war in Kachin State, now in its third year, and committing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” a leading human rights watchdog has claimed in a report released today. The 71-page report entitled, Ending Wartime Torture in Northern Myanmar, by Fortify Rights, documents the torture and abuse of…