Articles

Fortify Rights, an international human rights organization based in South East Asia, raised concerns regarding Burma’s upcoming national census, citizenship law and national ID card scheme, arguing that in their current form they entrenched ethnic rifts and threatened peace. The Burma Government’s census, National ID card scheme and citizenship law are adding to ethnic discrimination, Matthew Smith, executive director and…

Burma’s government and the Thai company involved in the construction of the Asia Highway have paid compensation to landowners affected by the construction, but some landowners have claimed that they did not receive the compensation that the authorities initially promised. The landowners had their land damaged by the building of the highway between Myawaddy to Thin-gan-nyi-naung and then through to…

A humanitarian worker from Free Burma Rangers (FBR) was shot and badly wounded on February 18 while working in Northern Karen State. Saw Shae Say, 25, who works as a video recorder with FBR, was shot while monitoring Burma Army troop movements near Luthaw Township, Papun District, in Karen National Union (KNU) territory, despite a ceasefire being in place. Karen…

Tens of thousands of people from Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon State joined with over 100 civil society organisations and political parties to issue a petition on International Day of Action for Rivers to demand an immediate moratorium on Burmese Government plans to construct six dams on the Salween River. The petition, organized by Burma Rivers Network (BRN), released today…

The government’s Union Peacemaking Working Committee (UPWC) and the ethnic armed groups’, National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), agreed during their last meeting to draft a single nationwide ceasefire agreement. After a two-day meeting, held on the 9th and 10th of March, 2014, representatives of UPWC and the NCCT agreed to form a working committee composed of people from both groups…

Thick haze has blanketed the Thai-Burma border district of Mae Sot with local residents claiming it is the worst in living memory. Thick smoke made highways dangerous, caused airline flights in and out of Mae Sot to be cancelled forcing visitors into taking lengthy bus trips. Dense smoke swallowed heavily laden timber trucks as they drove down the Asia Highway…

Women from the largest refugee camp in Thailand’s express their concerns and dreams as the world marks international women’s day. Naw Kaw, 44, a mother of three and a Karen refugee, sits down, shielding her face from the midday sun. She has been in Mae La refugee camp for two decades. She fled Burma after being used by the Burma…

Two leading Karen Women’s groups, the Karen Women’s Organisation and the Karen Women’s Empowerment Group (KWEG) have urged Burma’s reformist government to improve women’s rights in the country as the world marks international women’s day, arguing that peace could not be reached without respect for women’s rights. ”Lasting peace in Burma cannot be achieved without justice for the women of…

The Karen Women Organization (KWO) has called for the postponement of Burma’s nationwide census, scheduled to run this month, until the data classifications are deemed appropriate to ethnic groups and the political situation in the country is stable. Naw K’nyaw Paw, general secretary of KWO told Karen News that all its senior representatives attended the KWO annual meeting agreed and…

Residents from Lun-Nya village area, in Hpa-an Township voiced their opposition to a proposed cement factory planned for their area, over concerns that it could endanger their health and fears that they would receive no compensation. As many as 300 villagers raised their concerns at the meeting attended by representatives from Ultra Tech’s Cement Factory and ministers of the Karen…