Articles

The winner of the 2015 Padoh Mahn Sha Young Leader Award, is Sa Shine, a youth educator from the Hpa-an Youth Network. Sa Shine was presented with the award at the 66th commemoration ceremony of the Karen Martyrs’ Day held at the Karen National Liberation Army’s 7th brigade headquarter on August 12, 2016. Saw Say Say Phan, one of the…

A lance corporal and platoon commander from the Karen National Union’s Kawkareik police force was attacked and killed by a man wielding a sword. The killing of the police officer took place in Ang Pha Lay village in southern Kawkareik, around 2pm on August 8, 2016. The police officer, Saw Khin Shwe, 52 was returning from Ang Pha Gyi Station,…

The delay in the National Electrification Project (NEP) has caused villagers to doubt it will become a reality, but they are worried that the second installment they paid for is now lost. The National Electrification Project is a joint venture by the World Bank and the Department of Rural Development that was supposed to deliver electricity to villages by late…

Patients from Mae Ra Ma Luang Refugee Camp in the Thai Northern Province of Mae Hong Song were injured when the referral car carrying them was hit by a falling tree on a road, 50 kilometers away from Mae Sariang Town. The accident took place on August 4 as the pickup truck carrying the referred patients was returning from Mae…

Fighting between troops from the Border Guard Force and renegade soldiers from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army this week wounded four villagers. The armed clash took place between Kawt Nwe and Tadangu village near the new Kawkariek-Myawaddy Asia Highway on August 4. The breakaway DKBA troops were led by Lieutenant Na Ma Kyar and the BGF soldiers were from battalion…

In an effort to foster trust in the country’s peace building and in future political movements, ethnic youth from all over Burma formed an alliance at their latest conference. The National Ethnic Youth Conference was held from July 27 to August 1 in Panglong, Lwelin Township in southern Shan State. A Burma ethnic youth alliance comprised of 26 ethnic groups…

A new report by the Karen Human Rights Group has documented the insecurity and mistrust ethnic women have to Burmese authorities following decades of armed conflict. The report, entitled Hidden Strengths, Hidden Struggles, catalogues some of the main concerns ethnic women have as they go about their daily lives, including fears over personal security, sexual violence, land confiscation and access…

MAI JA YANG, Kachin State (Myanmar Now) – It’s nearly dinner time at the dormitory in Mai Ja Yang and teachers are busy in the kitchen, while several teenagers are lounging on benches outside the building in this Kachin rebel-controlled town on the Myanmar-China border. While some sleep or read, La Phai, 16, is strumming his guitar. He said he…

Compensation would be given to locals whose farmlands or fruit tree plantations were affected by the two power cable projects from Myawady to Mawlamyaing and Myawady to Kawkareik. The Myawady-Mawlamyaing 230 KV and Myawady-Kawkareik 66 KV power line projects is being built, some of its towers run through farmlands and plantations. Government officials have said that a committee will be…

Karen State based political parties and civil society groups said that they are not invited to take part at the state level Joint Monitoring Committee-State Level (JMC-S). The state level JMC-S was formed with 16 committee members at the headquarters of the Burma Army 22 Light Infantry Division in Hpa-an on the 29th of June, 2016. Saw Kyaw Swa, of…