Articles

Seventy years after World War II ended, withered and mostly impoverished veterans will gather at the graveside of a British officer who almost no one in England remembers. Maj. Hugh Paul Seagrim — or “Grandfather Longlegs” — remains a legend up in the hills of Myanmar, among a beleaguered ethnic minority for whom peace never came. Karen fought courageously behind…

The Burma government’s announced on August 25 that its National Minimum Wage Committee had approved a minimum daily wage of K3,600 (US$2.80) for a standard eight-hour work day across all industries. From 1st September the national minimum wage will apply and workers’ minimum monthly pay would be about $67 based on a six-day week. The state-owned media reported that he…

The Karen Affairs Minister from the ruling government party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party from the Tanintharyi region resigned and joined the Kayin People’s Party. Saw Hervy, the current Karen Affairs Minister, told Karen News that he resigned from the USDP and will now contest the November 8 general election as a candidate for the Kayin People’s Party (KPP).…

Karen community groups claim the Karen National Union is ignoring their concerns about the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government. The claims came at a meeting 15 community-based Karen groups had with the KNU leaders to discuss the nationwide ceasefire agreement. The meeting held at Lay Wah in Hlaingbwe Township on August 31 between KNU representatives and the Karen groups…

Burma’s Union Election Committee has announced highly restrictive regulations on statements made by political parties in the upcoming nationwide election. The regulations include vetting statements made by political parties and limit them to 15 minutes on state-controlled media outlets and an outright ban of criticism against the country’s all-powerful military. The UEC said that information “that can split the Tatmadaw…

David Tharckabaw, head of the Karen National Unions Alliance Affairs, in an exclusive interview with Karen News, explains why he is opposed to the current Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement that he believes will deliver little for the majority of ethnic people and only benefit a few people. Mr Tharckabaw said he was not against a nationwide ceasefire that was in the…

Local residents said mortars and gunfire exploded yesterday morning on the new Myawaddy-Kawkariek Asia Highway. A Karen soldier stationed close to the area and who heard the shooting said. “The explosions sounded like three mortars and four or five shots of small guns. It lasted for about 10 minutes. The shooting seems be from the hillside close to the road…

In early August, 18 young Karen and Karenni teenage refugees who had resettled to the Salt Lake City in the US, returned to the Mae La refugee camps on Thai border where they were born. The boys were on a trip to attend a World Scout Jamboree in Yamaguchi, Japan and to Thailand and Burma to visit their birthplace. The…

In an open letter to the Karen National Union Chairperson General Mutu Sae Poe, on Saturday 29 August 2015, a coalition of international based Karen groups accused the KNU leader that by attending the Burma government’s opening ceremony of the Asian Highway as a ‘special guest’ he would be adding a veneer that would allow the government to ignore recent…

The Burma Army was quick to replace its South-Eastern Division Commander, following his failure to prevent the recent closure of the Asia Highway due to fighting between the DKBA and government troops. Major General Tin Maung Win was replaced by Brigadier General Myo Win attached to the Military Operation Command 19. A security specialist based on Thai-Burma border who requested…