Articles

Ethnic communities have spent decades building vital services in the absence of government help, but there are now fears interference could result in their work being undermined. While acknowledging Myanmar needs help, Cynthia Maung is not optimistic that a $100 million (about 3.2 billion baht) agreement with the World Bank for essential health services will benefit ethnic community health organisations…

Tuesday this week, a convoy of trucks carrying the Myanmar Red Cross Society signs were attacked by unknown and two workers killed. The killing has outrages international governments and in media reports the US expressed its deep concern over the attack. The attack follows intense fighting that broke out on February 9 and it is reported that 47 Burma Army…

A new report by a network of ethnic community health organisations was released today at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, Bangkok. The report, The Long Road to Recovery, based on data surveyed from 64 townships, with a target population of half a million people, “shows decreased rates of malaria and maternal malnutrition, and improved patterns of breastfeeding.” Despite these…

Parents and education service providers of migrant communities in the Thai border town of Mae Sot are struggling to continue sending their children to school. Migrant education organisations told Karen News that the closure of migrant schools is caused by withdrawal of funding by international donors. Officials from the Thai Ministry of Education, the Burmese Migrant Workers Education Committee, World…

Hpa-an residents who lost their 40 acres of land to a construction project in town’s industrial zone want compensation from the government for the loss of their rubber plantations. Saw Khant Win Aung, had his land confiscated for the construction, said that on January 25, the Karen State Chief Minister, U Zaw Min, visited the project site and said that…

On December 22, a China-Myanmar joint venture developing a copper mine in central Myanmar announced that it had gained “broad community support” to continue the controversial project and that it would be expanding the area covered by the mine. The day ended with 56-year old Daw Khin Win shot dead and two other villagers injured as police opened fire with…

A campaign by the Burma Campaign UK is trying to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma. To make its point, Burma Campaign has delivered more than 2,000 rose-tinted glasses, and issued photo petitions to the British Foreign Office to put pressure on the British government to a “return to putting human rights as their top priority in Burma,” the…

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) wants the Karen National Union (KNU) to be part of its organization. In a speech delivered by Khu Oo Reh, General Secretary of the UNFC on 66th anniversary of Karen Revolution Day in Karen State he underlined the importance of the KNU role in the UNFC. “It is a time of reforming in Burma.…

The bodies of at least three villagers found in Nam Lim Pa, Kachin State, on January 30th show signs of torture, with the remains of another four also found in a neighbouring village, locals and a humanitarian organisation have reported. Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian organisation that delivers aid to conflict zones in Burma, accused the Burma Army of being…

The Burma Campaign UK has launched a campaign calling for the release of a Burmese political activist, Sein Than, currently serving a two-year prison sentence for leading peaceful protests to support people demanding compensation or return of their land confiscated by the government’s military. In a statement released today, the Burma Campaign UK “urged people to email President Thein Sein…