Articles

Over 200 children at the Myaing Gyi Ngu internally displaced persons camp have received their first ever inoculations this week, amid a joint vaccination drive by the Karen Department of Health and Welfare and the state health department. Between July 4-6 children under five were given a slew of vaccines protecting against tuberculosis, tetanus, chickenpox, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis B, pneumococcal…

On Karen armed forced day last week, one ethnic armed group leader sounded a cautionary note, instructing soldiers to recall that a ceasefire is not the same as peace, while urging them to remain “alert”. “The ceasefire is a political game,” said Lieutenant General Saw Baw Kyaw Heh, speaking at an event commemorating the 68th Karen Armed Forces (Kawthoolei Army)…

With peace still looking elusive and negotiations as fractured as ever, a steering committee established by the ceasefire signatories has agreed to conduct a broad review of the peace process. The Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) announced on July 2 that it would undertake the survey. The team, compromised of representatives from the eight ethnic armed groups party to the…

The Karen National Union (KNU) will celebrate its police force, inaugurating the first annual ‘Police Day’ on September 9, according to an official from the KNU’s Interior and Religious Affairs Department. “The KNPF has been active for 20 years, but the public does not know them. They are only slowly gaining public recognition,” said P’doh Saw Ah Toe, head of…

A recent crackdown by Thai authorities against illegal foreign workers has resulted in the temporary closure of several Burma migrant schools in Tak Province, according to the Burmese Migrant Teachers’ Association (BMTA). BMTA secretary U Naing Naing Tun told Karen News on June 29 that migrant school teachers have been spooked by the crackdown over the past week so are…

Participants of the Fifth Ethnic Media Conference have submitted an open letter to the President, the State Counsellor and the Tatmadaw’s Commander-in-Chief calling for the release of three journalists who have been detained in Shan State. After holding an emergency session on the issue of the detained journalists from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and the Irrawaddy, 25 media…

The Fifth Ethnic Media Conference got underway in Loikaw, Kayah (Karenni) State on June 26. Led by Burma News International (BNI) and Kayah State-based Kantarawaddy Times, the three-day conference aims to raise the profile of ethnic media, according to BNI’s director Nai Kasauh Mon. Nai Kasauh Mon said ethnic media was vital in “providing truthful information to the public”. Under…

The Karen Women’s Empowerment Group (KWEG) went on its first excursion to the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw in Naypyidaw on June 20. A total of 47 village leaders from Hpa-an, Kawkareik, Kyain Seik Gyi and Hlaingbwe Townships in Karen State studied the activities carried out by the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and discussed regional development issues. Head of the KWEG’s implementation plan for civilian…

An EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) working committee has been established in Karen State. This came after a FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement meeting with various civil society organizations (CSOs) in the state’s capital Hpa-an on June 17 and 18. CSO representative from the interim working committee Ko Zaw Thura said that “the aim is to now [raise…

The matriculation exam pass rate at Burma migrant schools in Mae Sot, Thailand remains very low, according to the Burmese Migrant Workers’ Education Committee (BMWEC). Only 16 out of 101 students from Hsa Thoo Lei and Thway Thit schools passed their Myanmar matriculation exam in the 2016-2017 academic year. Last year, a similarly low 17 out of 101 students passed.…