Karen News

The Phan Foundation urged on all young Karen leaders living anywhere in the world to nominate for the 2018 Padoh Mahn Sha Young Leader Award. The award officially opened called for nominations on November, 21st, the closing date is December 31, 2018. Slone Phan, the director of Phan Foundation and the youngest son of Padoh Mahn Shar Lar Phan spoke…

In an exclusive interview with Karen News, Saw Albert, Field Director of Karen Human Right Group (KHRG), talk about the land confiscation and its impact on the livelihood of villagers, as well as the unfavorable conditions of legal mechanism towards villagers to secure their lands. Peace Process Doesn’t Help Villagers to Secure their Land Land confiscation is serious because 70%…

Villagers living near the Myaing Kalay cement factory in Hpa-an, Karen State have asked for operators to stop the storing and transporting of coal used to run the 4,000 ton Myaing Kalay cement factory. Local residents made their request on November 10, following the spilling of coal from trucks while being transported from the port to the cement factory. The…

The director of the Karen Development Network-KDN said that existing peace process between the government and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) is no more than ceasefire position. The director of KDM Rev. Matthew Aye gave the comment during the introduction ceremony of people’s analysis report on 12 November in Hpa-an, Karen State. According to Rev. Matthew Aye, the report has…

The 63rd Karen State Day annual ceremony was held in Hpa-An on 7 November. The event, which was run by the Karen State Government, was opened by U Aye Thar Aung, vice-chairman of the National Parliament. U Aye Thar Aung also made an inaugural speech at the ceremony. Present at the ceremony were Nai Thet Lwin (the Union Minister for…

The Karen National Union (KNU) has been starting its 6th Central Standing Committee’s emergency meeting after the 16th Karen National Union Congress in Lay Wah (Law Khee Lar), Pa-an district, Karen State. The meeting which will be held from 6 to 10 November has planned to discuss mainly about the stoppages while implementing the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) process between…

November 3rd by-election expressed good perspective in the ethnic constituencies where ethnic political parties gained seats, responsible persons from Karen People’s Party (KPP) and the Karen National Party (KNP) told Karen News. “People’s trust gradually falls back upon the two major parties. The ethnic peoples understand well that they must take hold of their opportunities as well as their rights.…

Many observers of Myanmar’s political transition agree that the success of Burma’s democratic reforms and national reconciliation hinge on the willingness of Aung San Su Kyi’s quasi-civilian government and the Tatmadaw (Burma Army) to accommodate the political demands and desires of various ethnic groups.  Chief among those demands is greater political, economic and cultural autonomy in the form of federalism…

Sayadaw U Thuzana, the controversial monk accused of helping the Burma military regime of engineering the devastating split that broke and caused irreparable damage to the Karen National Union in 1994, died in a Bangkok Hospital on Saturday. Saw Naung Bee, an associate and care giver to the Abbot told Karen News that the monk died on Saturday at 9:12am…

Three journalists from the Yangon base Eleven Media Group were arrested today, and could be charged under Section 505(b) and face up to two years in jail. Reuters report that Section 505(b) is a colonial-era law used to stop “publishing information that could cause fear or alarm to the public, cause someone to commit an offense or disrupt public tranquility.”…