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Local authorities are planning to charge five organizers of the 68th Karen Martyrs’ Day event under the Ward and Village Tract Administration Law for holding the commemoration without permission at the Kayin People’s Party (KPP) office in Hinthada Township, Irrawaddy Region on August 12. Hinthada District Administrator U Myo Aung said he prohibited the Karen Martyrs’ Day commemoration, but it…

Karen leaders in the Irrawaddy Region ignored warnings and threats from Burmese authorities trying to stop Karen people commemorating the annual Martyr Day on August 12. The Karen leaders from Hinthada Township are angry at the Burmese authorities for disturbing and threatening law suits over the commemoration of the 68th Karen Martyrs Day. Officials from the Kayin People’s Party’s said…

Karen environmentalists demanded the Burma government “to respect and honor indigenous Karen peoples’ governance and management rights over their ancestral territories.” The Salween Peace Park Committee (SPPC) and Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) released a media statement to commemorate International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9, 2018, the 11th anniversary of the UN Declaration on…

A total of 123,696 students are learning Karen literature in government schools in the Ayeyarwady Region in the 2018-2019 academic year, according to the regional education office. There were only 91,871 students learning Karen literature in the previous 2017-18 academic year in the Ayeyarwady Region and the number of students has increased up to 31,825 in this academic year. “Many…

The 68th Karen Martyrs’ Day will be held in cities like Yangon, Myaungmya, Kangyidaunt, and Pantanaw on August 12, the ceremony coordinators said to Karen News. Kangyidaunt Township Karen Literature and Culture Committee’s chair Mahn San Win told Karen News that the Karen Martyrs’ Day ceremony will be held at Karen martyr Saw Ba U Gyi’s birthplace in Be Ga…

Youth leaders of environmental conservation groups from the Asean region have decided to boost their advocacy for environmental conservation in Asean countries. The youth leaders of river watch groups from the Asean region attended the 2nd Regional River Watch Groups Forum at Thoo Moei Kee School in Phop Phra District of Tak Province in Thailand on August 1-3. “Our decision…

MPT (Myanma Posts and Telecommunications) has offered free calls up to 30 minutes to its subscribers in 18 townships in the Karen State, Mon State, and eastern Bago Region, which has recently been hit by flood, according to a press release sent by MPT to Karen News on August 3. This service can be used within 30 days starting on…

The water level of the Than Lwin (Salween) River is still five feet above its danger level in the Karen State and the homes of the local residents are still submerged even though the flood has receded, so Hpa-an residents are still facing difficulties in returning home. The flood victims have been forced to abandon their homes and take refuge…

Relief aids are still needed for over 2,000 people from 15 villages on Kawt-lon Island in Hlaingbwe Township, Karen State after the island became flooded by the swelling river caused by a week-long rainfall, village officials said. “Our entire island was submerged. The water level has dropped by two feet now. Even though the water level has dropped, we still…

Myawaddy, Hlaing-bwe, and Hpa-an townships, in Karen State, have been affected by severe flooding after heavy rain triggered a sudden rise in the river level of the Than-lwin (Salween) River and the Thaung-yin (Moei) River this week, the State Department of Disaster Management’s director U Lin Htut said. “Currently, Myawaddy is in the first place [among the hardest-hit townships]. Hlaing-bwe…