Articles

Burma is arguably the worst offender of minority rights in Asia, according to the latest report by Minority Rights Group International (MRG). The Minority Rights Group annual report documented “disturbing levels of violence and propaganda against minorities” across Asia but singled out Burma as perhaps the worst place for minority groups where hate crimes were a “daily reality.” MRG noted…

A British human rights advocacy group claims the Burma Government has failed to live up to its pledge to end sexual violence, as authorities arrest women leaders protesting against rape. Human rights advocacy group, Burma Campaign UK, has hit out at the Burma Government for making “zero” progress on ending sexual violence, one month on from the government’s decision to…

Authorities in Chin State have arrested eight protesters following peaceful protests condemning the alleged attempted rape of a Chin woman by a Burma Army soldier on June 10. The protests were in response to an alleged attempted rape of a 54-year-old woman by a soldier from Light Infantry Battalion 269 near the town of Razua, Chin State. According to a…

Mae Tao Clinic and the Burma Children Medical Fund, on the Thai Burma border, welcomed the arrival of more than 140 wheelchairs, donated for young children in need. The Burma Children Medical Fund organized the wheelchairs for the cross-border community with the help of several other organisations including Wheelchairs for Kids in Perth, Australia, Allied Pickfords Thailand, the Rotary Club…

Starting in July Thai authorities are to start recording the refugee population in an attempt to verifying the number of refugees living in camps on the Thai-Burma border in Tak province. Saw George, vice chairperson of the Karen Refugee Committee, confirmed to Karen News about the process. “We’ve learned that the verification process will start on 8th July. Since this…

Fighting between Karen soldiers and Burma Army troops broke out in Papun District last week killing one and wounding one Burma Army soldier. Sources from the Karen National Union’s Papun district office confirmed to Karen News that soldiers from a Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) 5th Brigade unit clashed with a Burma Army patrol. The Burma Army troops were based…

Mu Mu, 28, stirs thin soup inside her small, two-roomed bamboo house on the Thai-Burma border, and speaks of the day the Burma Army soldiers came to her village a more than a decade ago. “The soldiers used us as [forced] porters. They would come to our village, Mae Ta Waw, and arrest men and women. They kept coming back…

More than 20 Karen lawyers from all over Burma held an initial meeting in Rangoon last week to discuss the founding of a lawyer network that would provide legal assistance to the Karen community facing legal issues related to human rights, women’s right and land disputes. The Karen lawyers’ meeting was hosted at the office of the Karen Women Empowerment…

As monsoon rains sweep across Burma from India, villagers in Karen State and along the Thai Burma border are prey to malaria. In the last 10 years, the fight against the malaria parasite has seen dramatic decreases in deaths. The World Health Organisation estimates that there has been a 42% reduction in mortality rates from the parasite in the last…

A legal appeal by the human rights advocacy group to make public details of the Britain’s training of Burma’s military has succeeded. The human rights advocacy group, Burma Campaign UK, said it had been notified by the British Ministry of Defence that they had won their appeal against a decision not to release details of training in which members of…