Articles

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army took to the streets in the Burma border town of Myawaddy today calling on the Burma government to apologies for the crackdown on Buddhist monks during the Letpandaung copper mine protest and to end its military offensive against the ethnic Kachin. The 80-strong-protest was led by the DKBA and was joined by the Karen Peace…

Migrant workers from Burma sit on benches in and outside an labor ‘agents’ office on a small dusty road in the back blocks of the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Tiredness is etched on the workers faces as they wait for their names to be called out. Conversations overlap – delays in getting a temporary passport and the various…

Hsa Keh village is a small fishing community – nothing more than a line of small bamboo houses with leaf roofing. Under a clear sky, three small wooden fishing boats glide onto the beach. A peaceful scene that now has a dark development cloud hanging over the villagers. Hsa Keh village is in Na Bu Le area, west of Dawei…

The former Thai Prime Minister, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, made a commitment during his visit to the Thai border town of Mae Sot that he would help lobby funders to continue supporting migrant education on the border. Mr. Abhisit visited the Hsa Thoo Lei learning center, a migrant learning center in Mae Sot and met with representatives of the Burmese Migrant…

An independent human rights organization, Karen Human Rights Group have reported that thousands of unexploded landmines are a daily threat to the lives of the civilian population and their livestock in Karen State. KHRG said that in Nabu Township, Pa-an District area that a 21-year-old man was killed and another 40-year-old male lost a leg in different landmine incidents between…

More than a 1,000 well-wishers turned up at the Child Development Center, a migrant school based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, to celebrate Dr. Cynthia Maung’s 53rd birthday on the 6th December. Despite her Mae Tao Clinic facing a severe funding shortfall of US$320,000, Dr Cynthia Maung, continues to provide health care to refugees and migrant workers…

Villagers at a public meeting attended by government ministers, political organisations, community groups and developers called for new impact assessments to be carried out on the Dawei Special Economic Zone. Villagers from Ka Loat Hta made their request at a special meeting at Dawei Town Hall on December 5th. More than 300 people attended the meeting that was organized by…

The United Nationalities Alliance, which represents leaders from many of Burma’s major ethnic groups, has released an open letter addressed to the U.S. President Barack Obama urging him to be cautious in America’s relations with the military-backed government of Burma. The letter comes on the heels of Barack Obama’s visit to the once isolated country. The US President’s 6-hour visit…

The first ever Karen Women’s seminar has been attended by more than 40 Karen women who work in a wide variety of fields, including education, health, social work and human rights. “This is the first time Karen women from various geographic areas have come together to consult and discuss various issues related to women participation in the peace process.” The…

An ethnic political party will publish the first nationally distributed Karen magazine since the government launched its media reform agenda. The Palon-Sagaw Party based in Pa-an Town in Karen State said the objective of the magazine is to get distribution of the first Kayin Thu Ri Ya (Karen The Sun) Magazine out to the whole of Burma and to inform…