Articles

The ethnic armed organizations representatives have reached the end of the nationwide ceasefire agreement process following a three-day meeting in the Thai Northern city of Chiang Mai. The meeting held from August 21 to 24 resulted in the appointment of a new delegation of eight members to meet with President U Thein Sein and General Min Aung Hlaing in Nay…

Burma’s Parliament has passed controversial laws regulating religion and marriage, amid concern from human rights organisations that the laws further isolate minorities. “Parliament has not only shown disregard for basic human rights norms, but turned up the heat on Burma’s tense inter-communal relations and potentially put an already fragile transition at risk, with landmark elections right around the corner,” Phil…

Two senior members of the Karen State’s National League for Democracy resigned from the party to join the newly formed Karen Party. According to a Karen state NLD official, Saw Poe Wah, vice chairman of NLD Karen State, and Saw K’lue Htaw, administrative committee member from Hpa-an district resigned and will contest as representatives of the Karen National Party (KNP)…

For the second year running the Burma’s government allowed Karen people to commemorate their Martyrs’ Day in Rangoon. The 65th Karen Martyrs’ Day was held at the Judson Hall on August 12, 2015. This year’s event organized by Karen youth groups packed out the Judson Hall including representatives of the Karen National Union. Organisers said many people did not attend…

In August 2011, at Mae Sot General Hospital, a mother found herself facing a choice no parent should have to make. She had given birth three days earlier and walked seven hours from her home in eastern Burma to seek medical treatment for her sick newborn daughter, Naut Naut, leaving her husband and other infant daughter at home. She went…

The Karen National Union has decided to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, despite the other members of the ethnic armed group’s alliance, having not yet made their positions known. The KNU decision was reached at its Central Committee Emergency meeting held on August 14 and 15 at Lay Wah, Pa-an District, Karen State. Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win, general secretary…

The Burma Army is continuing with concerted military offensives in ethnic areas says a report by the frontline humanitarian organisation, Free Burma Rangers. Burma Army soldiers attacked Mali Yang in Northern Shan State and villagers have reported human rights abuses including torture, killings, force labour and sacking of villages. FBR’s frontline teams have documented 59 clashes in July, including two…

The case of a Burma Army soldier raping and murdering a 28-year-old woman in Shan State throws government promises of an end to sexual violence in doubt, a human rights organisation has claimed. The Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) said the murder happened in Ho Pong Township in the State’s south on June 6. The soldier subsequently charged with the…

The arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of land rights activists across Burma forms a new wave of prisoners of conscience, Human Rights Watch has said in a report damning of the government. The human rights organisation pointed to the arrest of a prominent land rights campaigner in Karen State as an example of a wider pattern of government persecution of its…

In the speech at the commemoration of the 65th Karen Martyrs’ Day, the head of the Karen National Liberation Army, General Johnny called for all Karen people in the country, on the border and overseas to unite and get involved in the current political struggle. General Johnny said that during the political struggle, inputs from all Karen people are important.…