Articles

Medics working with civilians displaced by fighting in Kachin State are struggling to cope because of a lack of resources – community based organizations warn of a potential health crisis. Information provided to Karen News by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand, allege that health workers are struggling to cope with the thousands of people displaced by conflict. “Every month we…

The decision by the leadership of the Karen National Union to suspend membership from the United Nationalities Federal Council in August has been met with both criticism and praise, with one analyst stating the move was the “right decision to make,” while some Karen community leaders have argued it weakens the ethnic groups’ push for peace and ethnic equality. Speaking…

A coalition of Shan community based organizations has said a moratorium on resource extraction is urgently needed until there is nationwide peace and a discussion on the control and management of the country’s natural resources, much of which are in ethnic areas. The Shan CBOs referred to an anti-mining protest held on 5th September by 3,000 villagers in the town…

More than 30 ethnic Karen community based organizations, including environmental watchdogs and civil society organizations, have criticized a blueprint for economic development in Southeast Burma published by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), an aid agency that operates under the Japanese government. The report, published on 9 September, by a coalition of 28 Karen CBOs – calling themselves the Karen…

The renowned Karen artist, Saw Kyaw La Thein, while on a visit to Australia called on the Karen diaspora to preserve Karen culture. Saw Kyaw La Thein was attending an event, on September 6, that showcased traditional Karen music, dance that was organized by the Karen community in Sydney. “The Karen language, literacy and customs are the blood and life…

A Karen women’s group based inside Burma urged the Karen National Union (KNU) to rejoin the ethnic alliance, as its recent action to suspend its membership risks dividing support within the Karen political community and derailing unity in the ethnic nationalities. The Karen Women Union issued a statement last week that raised issues over the decision by the KNU to…

The Karen National Union has confirmed the suspension of its membership with the ethnic alliance due to disagreement over the policies and structure of the alliance group. The KNU submitted its official letter to the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an ethnic alliance group that the KNU has been a core member. The letter was handed in on the third…

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) criticized the Burma government for failing to keep it’s promise to release all political prisoners, expressing concerns that the number of political prisoners in Burma, following a Presidential amnesty in 2012, is now on the increase. “President U thein Sein announced that he would release all political prisoners in Burma but in reality…

A group of 291 Shan civilians internally displaced by war in Shan State sent a letter of appeal directly to President U Thein Sein requesting a withdrawal of Burma Army soldiers from the areas of conflict and compensation for land and possessions they had allegedly destroyed. The letter, addressed to U Thein Sein, claimed that Burma Army soldiers destroyed 422…

The reduction in funds from international donors to the Thai-Burma border areas is threatening to close Burmese migrant schools. Schoolteachers at the migrants learning centers on the border claim that they will be unable to continue to teach as they are currently struggling to feed their families and to pay their bills due to the drop in financial support this…