Articles

Karen National Union (KNU) officers, in Ler Mu Lah Township, have imposed restrictions on alcohol sales from May 1 to the thousands of gold miners who come to the area prospecting for gold. KNU officials have put in the alcohol restrictions in an attempt to prevent problems between miners and local and in an effort to maintain Karen traditional values.…

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) based at a monastery in Myaing Gyi Ngu village, Hlaing Bwe Township, Karen State, was twice attacked by a the Border Guard Force (BGF) on April 28. A source close to the DKBA, who asked not to be named, told Karen News that fighting was between BGF Battalion 1011 under the command of Major…

Despite a ceasefire in place, a Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) report criticizes a government-controlled militia, the Border Guard Force (BGF), for committing human right violations against villagers in Papun Township, Karen State. The KHRG’s report released on 23rd of April, documented that BGF battalions based in Papun Township – the 1013th and the 1014th – forced villagers from Meh…

International rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Burma Campaign UK, have criticised the EU for lifting its sanctions on Burma, saying that the move “undercuts” the impoverished country’s human rights progress. “The EU’s scrapping of targeted sanctions on Burma is premature and recklessly imperils human rights gains made so far,” said Lotte Leicht, EU director at HRW. On April…

The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) warned the European Union that it was too early to lift sanctions on Burma. The UNFC hit out at the EU after foreign ministers from 27 European countries met in Luxembourg on April 22 and decided to lift all sanctions on Burma, except its embargo on arms. The UNFC vice-chairman Padoh Saw David Tharckapaw…

Refugees from the Mae Ra Mo and Mae La Oon refugee camps, in Mae Hong Son District, on the Thai-Burma border, who are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have been given permission to apply for resettlement in Japan. The UNHCR issued an announcement stating families can apply for resettlement at its office, located at the…

Burma’s military accused of mass human rights abuses in Shan State as President Thein Sien is awarded peace prize and the EU economic sanctions. The Shan Human Rights Foundation has expressed grave concern over new widespread abuses being committed by the Burma Army in recent weeks. Despite ongoing peace talks with the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), Burma’s military has launched…

The once forested slopes of the hills around Kyeik Pe Lor village are now surrounded by rubber trees or burnt black in preparation for the planting of more rubber trees. Forests have been burnt to the ground. The burnt land once was part of the villager’s rotation rice farming, but now has been taken over by a company for a…

Fort the first time the Karen Education Department and the Karen Teachers Working Group held a summer camp for teacher training in a government controlled area. The training was held in Pway Poe Kla village, east of Dawei, in Southern Burma. The training was made possible because of the ceasefire agreement reached between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the…

Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne infection that peaks during Burma’s wet season has struck Karen children early this year. A government health official told Karen News that the number of children in Pa-an, the capital of Karen State, presenting with dengue are high. Dr Win Naing, the Burma government’s health director for Karen State, explained to Karen News that while malaria…