Articles

Refugee camp officials on the Thai Burma border are concerned that a funding shortfall may result in further ration cuts. The officials said that they are now holding discussions with donor organizations to try to manage the basic food rations provided to the refugees. The camp officials pointed out that a funding shortfall for the year may cause further reductions…

Frontline humanitarian organization, the Free Burma Ranger report that the Burma Airforce continues to bombard Kachin Independent Army positions using jet fighters. The Free Burma Rangers said in a statement released this week that the Burma military has focused its attacks around Nam Lim Pa village. “On the 18th and 19th of May alone clashes continued for many hours and…

Residents of Mae La Refugee Camp suffering from water shortages were relieved when heavy rain drenched the region this week. This year’s dry season has caused Mae La refugees’ additional hardship as their water sources dried out and camp residents faced severe water shortages during April and May. Camp officials told Karen News that this year was the worst drought…

Karen villagers whose lands were taken by companies to build a hydropower dam are angry and now want their lands returned. The villagers from the Palet Wa region in Thandaung Township lost their homes and land to a hydro-power dam in Htantabin Township are protesting and demanding their lands are returned from the companies. More than a 100 villagers and…

Media reports estimate that the Indonesian navy and fishing boats rescued as many as 1,000 asylum seekers off its coast near Aceh, on Friday 15th May. An Indonesian military spokesperson, Major General Fuad Basya, said in a interview with the ABC, Australian’s national broadcaster, that the 200 asylum seekers rescued by the Indonesian’s navy were spotted earlier that morning by…

The United Nations High Commission on Refugees released a media statement on Thursday 13 May, voicing its concerns about the alleged treatment of Rohinhyan refugees by both the Malaysian and Indonesian governments this week. The UNHCR said it was “extremely alarmed at reports suggesting that Indonesia and Malaysia may have pushed back boats carrying vulnerable people from Myanmar and Bangladesh.”…

The Free Burma Rangers, have released a report and shocking photographic evidence of a killing of a farmer that the frontline humanitarian organization, alleges the Burma Army committed on Saturday May 9. The FBR confirm that the killing of a “civilian farmer, Min Htet from Mung Hkawng IDP Camp, on Saturday May 9 by Burma Army troops. The FBR report…

Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia’s policy of pushing boats of asylum seekers from Burma is‘cold-hearted,’ Human Rights Watch said in a statement released to the media. The International Organization for Migration estimates that as many as 8,000 Rohingya asylum seekers and Bangladeshi migrants are in desperate need of aid and are believed to be stranded in the Andaman Ocean and Malacca…

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK released a media statement on Wednesday 13 May, requestin,g “ASEAN member states to launch an urgent rescue operation for thousands of Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis stranded in boats off the coasts of Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.” The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK called on ASEAN to “address the root causes of the crisis by pressuring the…

Fortify Rights, a human rights organization that has been documenting the persecution of Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya said in a media statement released on Wednesday 13 May that, “Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia should immediately coordinate search and rescue operations for Rohingya asylum seekers and possible survivors of trafficking from Myanmar and Bangladesh who are stranded at sea.” Fortify Rights urged the…