Articles

A series of bomb blasts in Burma in late October has raised concerns over the fragile security situation in Burma. The government alleged that individuals with links to the Karen National Union were responsible for the bomb attacks. On October 25, the KNU called an emergency meeting of its executive members that resulted in a seven-member investigation team set up…

Karen communities urge the Karen National Union (KNU) to push the Burmese government to allow their native language to be taught in schools. Community leaders and elders said Karen villages in the government control area want the right to teach their native language. At a recent meeting in the KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy district, in Southern Burma, villager representatives encouraged its political…

The Karen National Union (KNU) in Southern Burma has suspended a coalmine from operating in the Pawklo area, east of Dawei. The KNU stopped the mine after listening to the demands local villagers made to the political organisations district leaders. The KNU Mergui-Tavoy District 16th Congress that finished on the 19 October decided that the coal mine in Tha Nay…

The arrest of two Karen soldiers by the government’s military has added to tension created by a series of recent bomb explosions in Burma. The two arrested Karen National Liberation Army soldiers have just been released after being detained by the Burma Army for nine days said that there is a need for clear guidelines on how both sides operate…

A Karen National Union District Office in a statement received by Karen News has lashed out at the perpetrators of the recent series of bomb blasts in Burma that have injured innocent civilians. The KNU Muthraw District underlined in its statement called the bomb blasts ‘disturbing’ and criticized the Burma’s government for suggesting that those responsible for the explosions had…

The unconnected death of two refugee women within a month at a refugee camp on the Thai Burma border has triggered fears about the security of women living in the camps. Mae La Refugee Camp officials found the decomposed body of missing elderly refugee woman near the camp on Monday. The dead woman was identified as Daw Gyin Myiang, 78…

In a move praised by local and international rights groups, Burma’s government, led by ex-general Thein Sein, has released 56 political prisoners. However, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) noted in a statement to the media that 133 political prisoners were still languishing in the country’s prisons. “Their release does not officially acknowledge their political status and ensures they…

A Japanese aid agency has promised to provide low-interest loans to the Mon State government for road building and other infrastructure projects. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is to finance the reconstruction of a small road that runs between Tarana village in Kyaikmaraw Township, Mon State and Chaungnakhwa village in Kyain Seikgyi Township, Karen State, into an all weather…

The human rights situation in Burma is moving too slowly, says Fortify Rights a non-profit human rights organization based in Southeast Asia, with positive political progress being undermined by a festering civil war in the country’s north. “Positive political changes have come to Burma but the human rights situation is deeply concerning,” said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights.…

Government Minister wants to build a village to house returning refugees. U Zaw Min, the chief minister of Karen State, proposed to the Karen National Union’s (KNU) Thaton District on September 28, that he would like to build a village in Hpa An area for refugees living on the Thai border to return to. Saw Aung Thaung Thein, from the…