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Continued fighting between Karen armed groups are forcing more villages into all ready overcrowded displacement camps. Temporary shelters holding displaced villagers in Myaing Gyi Ngu have seen an increase in its population list due to the ongoing skirmishes in Mae Tha Waw areas, Hlaingbwe Township of Karen state. A shelter official said that there are about 500 more villagers joining…

United Nation sources estimates that as many as 30,000 Rohingya have fled Burma for Bangladesh. Media reports from Bangladesh put the numbers closer to 70,000. The Rohingya from Burma’s Rakhine state in the west of the country are estimated to be just over a million in total with an estimated 400,000 taking refuge in Bangladesh. The New York based Human…

Thailand has asked Myanmar to upgrade a high traffic border checkpoint in Karen State that was closed in July due to flooding. They also requested the border be officially upgraded as a permanent trade crossing. The request was lodged on August 30 during the first meeting of the Thailand-Myanmar Township Border Committee, according to U Myo Naing, an administrator in…

The Karen Unity and Peace Committee (KUPC) convened a summit of Karen State political parties on August 29 to discuss the formation of a united political front. Representatives from the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party, the Kayin Democratic Party, the Kayin State Democracy and Development Party, and the Kayin Unity Democratic Party attended the meeting at the Thu Maydar Yama Gyar Tawya…

Supporting the nuts and bolts of implementing the peace process, a local-level committee was formed with an office in Hpapun township, Karen State officially opened on August 30. This is the first local-level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee to get to work. The eight-member committee includes three representatives from the government, three from ethnic armed organizations and two from the community.…

Refugee advocates on the Thai Burma border have called for international donors to continue funding for refugees and internally displace people in Burma. The Shan State Refugee Committee (Thai Border) issued a statement that pointed out that “food aid we have received has been gradually reduced, and will be totally stopped in October 2017.” The Shan State Refugee Committee estimated…

After three H1N1 flu cases were confirmed at a refugee camp along the Thai-Myanmar border last week, the area has been under quarantine with entries and exits temporarily suspended, according to officials at the camp. The Karen Refugee Committee send the restriction at the Mae La Ma Luang Camp is effective for 15 days starting from August 23, when the…

A drug rehabilitation group has launched an educational campaign to promote awareness about their services, and convince youth to kick the habit, or not to start in the first place. The Myanmar Drug Addicts Rehabilitation Association (Central) launched the education program on August 23, with a talk in Kya-in Seikkyi township in Kayin (Karen) State. Around 500 people attended. “[Drugs]…

The frontline humanitarian organization, Free Burma Rangers, released a report that supports statements made by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) that the Burma Army is targeting civilians in Northern Burma. The Free Burma Rangers said that “on August 11th the Burma Army launched an unprovoked attack against civilians in Kasung Village, west of Myitkyina, Kachin State. The FBR said…

The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) released a statement demanding the Burma Army stops it abuses of civilians. The KWAT said it its statement that “on August 11, 2017, hundreds of Burma Army troops entered Kasung village, in Mogaung township of Kachin State, shooting indiscriminately at civilians. One villager was killed, at least two injured, and over 1,000 IDPs were…