Articles

A coalition of Shan community groups have voiced concern about the repatriation of over 500 refugees from a camp on the northern Thai border into an area of conflict. On August 27th, the Norwegian Refugee Council, part of the Norwegian-led “Myanmar Peace Support Initiative,” began house-to-house surveys of refugees in Koung Jor camp, northern Chiang Mai province, asking about their…

Burma’s Ministry of Immigration, working together with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), has issued 350 people living in the remote rural area of Hlaingbwe Township, Karen State with national identity cards. The joint country project to distribute identity cards is known as the Moe Pwint program and is located in a monastery in Kwan Ta (Ta Waw Ta) village. The…

The Karen National Union’s vice chairman, Saw David Tharc Kapaw, acknowledged that Burma’s recent cabinet reshuffle has cast President U Thein Sein as a reformer. The KNU leader told Karen News. “I see a positive change. These newly appointed people are not regarded as narrow minded and self-serving. I think President U Thein Sein is a reformer who really wants…

The Karen National Union, despite being classified as an illegal organization, has attended a traditional wrist tying ceremony in Government controlled territory. Under article 17/1 of the Illegal Organization Act the KNU is still considered an outlaw group despite entering ‘peace-talks’ with the government. In what is considered a welcomed historic first by many Karen, the KNU celebrated the 35th…

The Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burma Government announced today that they have agreed on the dates and location for the third round of their ‘peace-talk’ negotiation. The two parties finally agreed to meet in Hpan-an, Karen State on September 3rd and 4th after the Burma Government had earlier postponed the ‘peace-talks’ that were originally scheduled for August 27th…

Human Rights Watch warns that thousands of ethnic Kachin fleeing war in Burma are at risk of abuses, food shortages and conflict China should stop the forced return of thousands of ethnic Kachin refugees to northern Burma, where they are at risk from “armed hostilities, Burmese Army abuses, and lack of aid,” Human Rights Watch said in a media statement…

Positive political changes in Burma – including the release of 1,500 political prisoners – have unfolded rapidly since a flawed election saw ex-general Thein Sein come into power in 2011. But reform is “still at a tentative and early stage” according to a leading NGO of activist scholars, the Transnational Institute (TNI). The entry of the NLD into parliament, the…

Burma’s Ministry of Construction plans to build a second Friendship Bridge between the Burma border town of Myawaddy and the Thai town of Mae Sot. Plans to build the bridge were reported in the Thai media citing from a media statement released by the Burmese government’s Ministry of Construction, director, U Kyaw Lin, who said that the reason for the…

Refugees at Mae La Refugee camp on the Thai Burma border with relatives resettled I third countries are about to be screened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Thailand to see if they are eligible to be resettled. It is estimated that there are as many as 52,000 people living at the Mae La refugee camp that…

Burma’s Mon political parties claim to focus for the land confiscation disputes in the state and in particular in the Tanintharyi region. The All Mon Region Democracy Party and the Mon Democracy Party met with the 88 Generation Student Group in August to discuss how to work together for civilians fighting land confiscation cases. U Naing Soe Myint, Central Executive…