Recommended

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 wet season in Burma is when dengue fever strikes communities. The Karen State public health department has diagnosed 436 people dengue fever as of July 14, 2018. Among the recorded 436 cases, 306 were from Hpa-an, 35 from Kawkareik, 39 from Hlaingbwe, 20 from Myawady, 8 from Kyainseikkyi, 22 from Hpapun and 6 from Thandaung Townships. Doctor Tun Min…

A skirmish erupted between the Tatmadaw and the Karen National Union (KNU) in the area controlled by the KNU Brigade 5 in Hpapun (Mu Traw) District in the Karen State on July 12 while the third session of the Union Peace Conference (21st Century Panglong) is being held in Naypyidaw. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 5 commander Brig…

National solidarity should be built in the union through freedom, equality, and justice between the ethnic people and not through military pressure and force, said the Karen National Union (KNU) chair General Mutu Say Poe in his speech on the first day of the Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong held at MCC-2 Hall in Naypyidaw on July 11.…

The National Ethnic Youth Alliance (NEYA) released a statement on July 4 to denounce the government for taking action and using violence in the crackdown against ethnic Karenni (Kayah) youths who were protesting against the plan to erect Bogyoke Aung San statue in the Karenni State’s capital Loikaw. The NEYA denounces the government for charging ten Karenni youths with defamation…

The Ei Tu Hta IDP Supporting Committee issued a statement on June 25 to urge the government to address the root causes of displacement before closing down internally displaced person (IDP) camps. The committee’s spokesperson Padoh Mahn Mahn Mahn said concerns have been raised after the Union Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr. Win Myat Aye talked about…

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it has never encouraged the refugees living at the Thai-Myanmar border to return home and it has only provided necessary assistance. The UNHCR (Hpa-an office) head Ms. Maureen McBrien said this during the World Refugees Day ceremony on June 20. “The UNHCR can only work in Myanmar under an invitation from…