Articles

Since October 26, Karen National Union representatives and members of community-based-groups have attended the KNU 15th Congress to vote in a new executive, department heads and the central standing committee. Karen News spoke to two KNU representatives attending the Congress about the changes that the ceasefire in Karen State has brought. Saw Klo Mutraw is an officer with the Karen…

The Burma Partnership (BP), a community based advocate organisation called on the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee to consult and to involve refugees in the process of repatriation. Burma Partnership released a video that shows the lack of consultation and involvement of community groups and refugees in the repatriation process. Constant rumors of repatriation of refugees from Burma who…

A report Burma released by ethnic students and youth groups yesterday documents the lack of inclusion and consultation with local communities by Burma’s government and the developers of the country’s mega projects. The report “Excluded: Burma’s Ethnic Nationalities on the Margins of Democracy and Development launched by the Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB) and the Nationalities Youth Forum (NY-Forum) claim…

A new report by Arakan Oil Watch (AOW) called “Danger Zone” alleges that a planned Chinese industrial zone threatens the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in Arakan State as well as Burma’s second largest mangrove forest. Arakan Oil Watch (AOW) is a community-based, non-governmental organization monitoring the impact of multinational oil and gas projects on locals inside Burma.…

A Karenni women’s group called for the halt to the expansion of the Mawchi tin mines in Karenni State in Eastern Burma. The Karenni women’s group claims that the tin mine has damage the environment and impact more than 4,000 indigenous Karenni people. The Karenni women group known as the Molo Women Mining Watch Network released a report – Lost…

A local woman from T’Nay Hsah Township killed by villager who reportedly used amphetamines that were manufactured and distributed by commander of Border Guard Battalion 1016. A report by the community-based human rights organisation, the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) has documented the rape and murder of a Pa’an woman. The 21-year-old woman was reportedly killed by a 23-year-old man…

Old and unexploded landmines remain an everyday threat to the lives of civilians and restrict their ability to travel safely. In a 2011 report by the humanitarian organisation Geneva Call, it was estimated that 5.2 million people live in areas contaminated by landmines in Burma. Landmines are concentrated in the country’s east – where many of Burma’s major ethnic people…

The Thai government is refusing to extend its deadline for migrant workers to complete the Nationality Verification (NV) process needed to work in Thailand legally from December 14th 2012. The Thai government has said it will deport those migrant workers who failed to register in time. The Thai Labour Minister, Padermchai Sasomsap, was quoted in The Bangkok Post as saying…

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…