Articles

State and region officials are calling on all potential ethnic literature teachers to come forward and apply for daily wage teacher posts. To make the process that much easier, ethnic committee officials have pledged to assist potential applicants with the required paperwork. “Anyone who wants to apply should come [to my home]. They need to bring recommendation letters. They can…

The Karen National Union held an emergency meeting to try to re-energize current peace talks between Ethnic Armed Organisation and Burma’s government. KNU sources claim the peace talks have become bogged down since the much vaunted second 21st century Pang Long Peace Conference took place in May. The Karen National Union Central Standing Committee held the emergency meeting on the…

Funding cuts to Burma related groups working on the Thai-Burma border have resulted in 20% salary reduction for health workers at Mae Tao Clinic. The Clinic has run a free service for migrant, refugee and people from Burma for 28 years. Mae Tao clinic’s deputy-managing director Naw Eh Ni said that starting from the 3rd of October, staff salaries will…

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…