Karen News

A small Karen boy leads two large brown bulls in search of a much-needed feed of grass. The summer sun has baked the ground hard and dried the grass brittle. The boy is wedged between the huge animals his small frame dwarfed by their bulk. The boy, Saw Tabluklee, blinks against the bright sun, his skin burnt brown and says…

Burma’s 60 years of ongoing civil war – the world’s longest – has driven what was once a wealthy regional power into one of the poorest countries in the world. Endemic issues face Burma. With over 500,000 internally displaced people (IDP), a general lack of infrastructure, few education opportunities and poor healthcare, the people of Burma face many challenges. Due…

The Burma government’s peace-talk delegation led by Railway Minister U Aung Min, today made an early morning visit to Dr Cynthia Maung’s Mae Tao Clinic in the border town of Mae Sot, Thailand. U Aung Min’s 6am visit followed-up on his yesterday meet with the Karen National Union and Dr. Cynthia Maung, the Minister said today’s visit was to get…

A Karen woman activist claims that the authorities in Burma are watching her every step despite recent efforts for democratic reform and building peace with ethnic groups. Naw Ohn Hla, a former political prisoner and a former member of the National League for Democracy – a major opposition political party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, spoke to Karen News…

The Karen National Union and Burma government held further peace talks in the Thai border town of Mae Sot yesterday. The government delegation led by Railway Minister, U Aung Min, met with KNU representatives to discuss and reinforce the agreements they made in earlier meetings. The six member KNU delegation was led by its general secretary, Naw Zipporah Sein, and…

A Karen family alleged that they have been abused and expelled from their home by the Dawei Princess Company are now seeking help from the local Karen National Union (KNU) office. Naw Hsa Gay, husband works at the Dawei Princess Company mining site at Min Htain in a KNU controlled area in southern Burma, spoke to Karen News about the…

A report released today in Bangkok by Human Rights Watch accuses Chinese authorities of forcing Kachin refugees back across the country’s border with Burma, amidst escalating conflict between Kachin armed forces and the Burma’s Army. Since open war erupted between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burma’s military in June last year, a growing tide of ethnic Kachin have sought…

Last week Thai officials and advocates from a migrant worker rights group held a public meeting to tell workers from Burma what their rights and protection was provided by Thailand’s labor laws. Migrant worker rights groups said that the official public talk was an important step towards making sure workers understood their rights while employed in Thailand. It was the…

Mon politicians and civil society groups claim information on national identity cards has denied them a getting a representative into Parliament. The Mon Literature and Culture Committee (Yangon) wants corrected what they claim is the wrong ethnicity information on national identity cards and the household registration papers of Mon people in the Yangon Region. Nai Min Thaung Shin, Chairman of…

As part of their recent signed ceasefire agreement, local government authorities and leaders of Karen armed groups put away their weapons and attended a school opening ceremony at Leh Haw village under Kawkareik last week. The village head, Saw Pha Ta Pot, Karen National Liberation Army officers, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army representatives and government officials pledged to encourage and support…