Karen News

By Conor Phelan* A health worker, Saw Doe Doh, told Karen News the wet season is adding to the already serious health risks displaced villagers are facing, especially with an increase in malaria, dengue fever and diarrhoea cases. The wet season also adds to the difficulties displaced villagers have to face flooded rivers are dangerous to cross and travelling by…

During the visit, members of the Karen parties were asked for their executive lists as well as personal information and if they issued a letter of support for the National Unity Government (NUG), according to a Karen party official. An official from the Kayin People’s Party (KPP) said that on June 16 the General Administration Department and its affiliates inspected…

By Conor Phelan* The government has restricted access to social media and the internet. On the 4th of February, popular social media sites Facebook, Facebook messenger and WhatsApp were blocked, followed quickly by Twitter and Instagram. The military appointed State Administration Council imposed nationwide internet blockades, regularly lasting from 1am to 9am, since February 15. The government’s attempt to supress…

Naw Nang Thazin, a health care provider looking after IDPs told Karen News that building shelter is critical as the wet season has placed many of the displaced villagers at risk. “There are 4,000 refugees and as they are not settled in one place like before it has made it difficult to arrange shelters for them. A local Abbot has…

Mr Sidoti, a former UN investigator into crimes against humanity in Burma was speaking to Karen News. Mr Sidoti, an Australian human rights lawyer, is one of three authors of the 2018 UN report, which called for senior members of Burma’s armed forces, including coup leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, to be prosecuted for genocide against the country’s Rohingya Muslim…

By Saw Greh Moo* In more than seven decades of armed struggle, tens of thousands of Karen people, both freedom fighters and civilians, sacrificed their lives and thousands more maimed and crippled fighting for freedom and equality. The price has been high and difficult to swallow, but no struggle for freedom has ever been cheap or easy. Throughout the revolutionary…

The numbers of displaced Kachin villagers driven from their villages by the Burma Army is now estimated by community based organizations to be more than 100,000. To add to the difficulties of caring for the displaced villagers, Kachin community-based-organizations said they have had to deal with government policy and its military, blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid. A statement released…

Karen youth have organized an event to push for KawThooLei, to be an independent country of the Karen. The event will be held on June 14, 2021 at Ritsche Auditorium, Saint Cloud State University, Minnesota, US. Gay Ka Mwee, an event organizer said the objective of the event, KawThooLei Day, is to celebrate Karen culture and raise awareness of KawThooLei…

The fighting on 1 June, 2021, south of Myawaddy Town, close to the village of Palu, was over territorial infringements imposed by the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and ignored by the Burma Army and its militia, the Border Guard Force. The heavy fighting forced the villagers to leave their village to find safety in nearby villages or to try…

The official letter, dated May 18, 2021, sent by the State Level Military Council to the KNU’s Liaison office in Hpa-an accused the KNU of providing military training to the groups outlawed by the Military Council. The groups named in the letter are: the anti-coup shadow government, National Unity Government (NUG) and its affiliates. The letter accused the KNU of…