Articles

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…

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…