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Following the murderous violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Meikhtila Town last week, a prominent Buddhist monk organization has forbid its congregation to be involved in sectarian violence. The Saffron Monk Network issued a statement last week warning the public not to take part in any violent events following the riots between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Meikhtila…

The Karen Refugees Committee has issued a statement outlining its position on the repatriation of Karen refugees on the Thai-Burma border. The KRC said that the recent political reforms in Burma that took place in 2010 “signals a ray of hope for many refugees to be able to return to their homeland.” Figures released by The Border Consortium (TBC), an…

Over 100 houses located in area near a Burma Army camp in Three Pagoda Pass Town were told by senior army officer they had to leave the area. Residents from Three Pagoda Pass Town in Karen State alleges that both an army officer from the Southeast Tactical Command and local authorities, warned residents living in the Tat Gon district, to…

The Kaw Moo Ra Karen Youth Group last week raided an island located in the middle of the Moei River and ‘detained’ suspected drug runners and seized illegal substances, ammunition and weapons. The River Moei separates Thailand from Burma. The island, known as ‘no-man’s land, sits in the middle of the river opposite the border towns of Mae Sot on…

Karen News is led to understand that the death toll from the fire that destroyed the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp has now been confirmed as 35 with one person still unaccounted for. Dr Paisarn Thanyawinitchakul, the chief of the Mae Hong Son Public Health Office, was reported in the Bankok Post, as saying that, “35 people have been confirmed…

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has confirmed today that 45 refugees were killed in a fire that tore through the Baan Mae Surin camp at around 4pm on Friday afternoon. Karen News is led to understand that most of the dead were trapped in the camp hospital. Two severely burnt refugees have been transferred to hospitals in…

More than 100 villagers and Kachin based civil society groups held a prayer service to stop the Myit Sone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River and for displaced villagers to return home in Myitkyina, Kachin State last week. Sha Khaung Tan Gon, a representative of the Kachin civil society groups and who participated in the prayer service held on International…

More than 200 Burmans based in Australia staged protest against the president of Burma, U TheinSein during his visit in Australia from News Zealand on March 13. Saw Kyaw Kwi, an Australian based Karen News reporter said protesters demonstrated in front of the Governor-General’s house in Canberra for two hours before continuing to country’s parliament to protest further. with an…

An environmentalist advocate, the Love Salween Group, issued a statement yesterday condemning government officials for denying a request by villagers to hold a prayer service on the Salween River on International Day of Action for Rivers on March 14, 2013. The Love Salween Group, a Karenni community-based-organization asked permission of local government official to hold a prayer service at Wan…

Karen National Union officials in the Tenasserim Township, Southern Burma are concerned that a coalmine will pollute local waterways posing a health hazard to villagers in the area. Officials of the local branch of the Karen National Union (KNU) are concerned that a Thai company that left its coal mining operation without covering it up risks poisoning water sources used…