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Hoping to bring relief displaced Karen people whose camp no longer has a source of funding, the Karen diaspora across the border in Thailand staged an emergency fundraising benefit over the weekend. Over 100 people attended the September 30 fundraiser in Mae Sot, which brought together artists, musicians, and Karen culture organizations. International donor funding for the Ei Tu Hta…

A Karen State official is accusing some school administrators of putting up road blocks to prevent Karen language and literature classes from being offered. “The textbooks haven’t been issued yet this year. Some headmasters don’t want ethnic literature to be taught because they worry that it would affect the teaching hours,” said Saw Aye Mya, chair of Kayin State’s Karen…

Despite appeals for emergency funding, a displaced persons camp in the northern Karen State has received no additional cash and anticipates its finances have dried up by the end of September, officials said. At the beginning of September, the Ei Tu Hta IDP Camp Supporting Committee submitted letters to international donors requesting that financial support be extended. The committee told…

The Burma Campaign UK released a statement welcoming the British government’s decision to stop funding and training of Burma’s military forces. The Burma Campaign UK said that in 2016 “the British government spent £305,000 of British taxpayers’ money training the Burmese military – 67% of the money came from the overseas aid budget.” The Burma Campaign UK pointed out in…

Karen State is open for business and ready for investment to pave the way for development, participants at a recent “Business for Peace” forum heard. The state’s Minister of Planning, Finance and Municipal Affairs U Than Naing said the state is now stable and brimming with business prospects that the government, in collaboration with ethnic armed organizations, is eager to…

At a public seminar in Thailand last week, Karen and Karenni officials raised concerns about the increasing pressure for refugees to return from the Thai-Myanmar border as international funding for camps dries up. “The refugees from the Thai-Myanmar border are not ready to return home,” said Naw Elizabeth, deputy director of the Karenni Education Department, who took part in the…

In effort to bolster Karen traditions, the Mon State government has donated dance costumes and instruments to five universities, an official said. The Karen literature and culture committees at Mawlamyine University, Mon State’s Technological University, the University of Computer Studies, the Government Technical Institute and the Agriculture Institute each received K1.5million-worth of Karen costumes and traditional musical instruments, according to…

The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT) met on 11 September to hear a complaint against the Ben Chaung Coal Mine. The coalmine is located in the Thanintharyi Region of Burma and three Thai companies are involved. The complaint, filed by representatives of indigenous Karen communities with the support of local and international NGOs, alleges the open-pit mine has…

A group of Karen residents in Minnesota are trying to keep their traditions alive among the diaspora by teaching the Karen language and literature. Every weekend from January 28 to September 4, a group that calls itself the Putermine Gontar Temple taught 16 adults and kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Mahn Lone Paung, who organized the training, said he hopes…

The Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) have released a report that accuses the Burma Army of shelling the northern Shan region of Mong Yai forcing 300 villagers to flee. The Shan Human Rights Foundation statement said that “on September 10 at 8:00 am, a group of about 60 Burma Army troops from LIB 325 based in Mong Yai and the…