Karen News

Just when the displaced people, thought it could not get any worse, their makeshift shelters offering little resistance, were smashed when unseasonal heavy rains and gale force winds tore through their encampment on the 4th and 5th of February. A Lay Kay Kaw displaced villager told Karen News. “It rained so hard in the early night [of February 4th], our…

Dr. Heyzer’s comments were made during an interview with Channel News Asia (CNA) on 31st January 2022, a day before the anniversary of the February 1st military coup. Dr. Heyzer’s comments were later claimed by the UN Special envoy office as a ‘misunderstanding’. On February 1st, The European Karen Network (EKN) issued a statement rejecting Dr. Heyzer’s proposal for “power…

The displaced villagers are now forced to live in makeshift plastic sheet shelters on the banks of the Moei (Thaung Yin) River that marks the border between Burma and Thailand. Many of the makeshift shelters are set up on so-called ‘no-man’s land’ – patches of gravel-beds left in the middle of the Moei River as wet season flood waters subside.…

The Burma Army advanced into Karen National Union controlled areas resulting in fighting with the Karen National Liberation Army. Villagers have been displaced in their tens of thousands as they flee the fighting. Villages are deserted as the Burma Army advances and farmland, crops and livestock left unattended as people look to find safety elsewhere. Displaced villagers in the southern…

As many as 20,000 villagers from 27 villages have been displaced in recent Burma Army offensives in Kawkareik Township. Local schools under the administration of the Kawthoolei Education and Culture Department (KECD) have been forced to close and students pushed to take exams early. Saw Gay Doh, the principal of the Pu Yay high school that had to close because…

A KNU statement released on January 26, said military attacks by the Burma Army and its sponsored militia, the Border Guard Force (BGF) since the February 1st 2021 military coup, has been daily. The Burma Army and its militia have focus attacks on local Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO) units, and in doing so,…

Citing the increase in both exports and imports through the Myawaddy – Mae Sot route, the Ministry of Commerce, under the control of SAC, reported trade reached USD$705.627 million in just three and a half months, from 1 October 2021 to 14 January 2022. The report stated that the total trade value in the same period during the previous year…

The pandemic is far from ending and as new variants of the virus emerge and spread around the world, healthcare providers working for migrant communities, including Mae Sot General Hospital, Mae Tao Clinic and Shoklo Malaria Research Unit (SMRU), are stepping up their awareness raising campaign of the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 to reduce the risk of being…

The farmer explained to Karen News the recent increase in costs associated with farming is creating hardship – fuel costs have tripled. “Price have increased a lot in recent days. Fuel is now more than 7,000 kyats (about USD$ 4) a gallon. Before, we could use 2,000 Kyat (about USD$ 1.5) worth of fuel for the whole day. Now, we…

The statement issued on January 20, by Karen, Karenni, and Chin Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) demanded international governments, ASEAN and UN establish safe zones for the protection of civilians and to declare military no-fly zones in Burma where the military has ordered airstrikes and artillery shelling targeting civilian areas. In response to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy’s proposal to send…