Ceasefire

KNU President, General Mutu Say Poe, has called for continued ethnic Karen unity while paying respects to the Karen people in a speech marking the 64th anniversary of Karen Revolutionary Resistance Day. In the speech, General Mutu Say Poe acknowledged the sacrifice of the Karen people in their decades-long conflict with Burma’s military. “In the period of 64 years of…

A number of reports by a diverse range of international and local organizations have scrutinized Burma’s government and while applauding recent positive changes, found it wanting in all functions of government from political inclusion, to rule of law to land rights to healthcare. Professor Desmond Ball of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra…

President U Thein Sein invitated a Karen National Union delegation to Naypyidaw to meet with key government ministers, including the vice president Sai Mauk Kham and the military chief, Vice-Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The KNU delegation led by General Mutu Say Poe, the KNU chairman, met for two days, from the 5th to the of 6th January, with President…

A Karen National Union delegations met with Vice-Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Defense Ministry and the Tatmadaw (Burma Army), in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, to talk about the need for nationwide ‘concrete ceasefire agreements’ between all ethnic armed groups and the government. Padoh Mahn Mahn, joint secretary of the KNU and a member of its delegation…

Villagers in the Thandaung area were frightened by a Burma Army helicopter that repeatedly flew over their homes last week – the area is under the Karen National Union’s Taungoo District and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army 2nd Brigade. Local sources said that the helicopter flew to Tate Pu military camp on January 1 and to Bu…

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…

An independent human rights organisation has reported that the ceasefire between the government and the Karen national union has brought respite for villagers caught in the 60-year conflict. In the ten months since a preliminary ceasefire agreement was reached between representatives of the Government of Burma and the Karen National Union (KNU), local communities have seen a marked decrease in…

The Karen Baptist Convention (Burma) has invited officials from the Karen National Union and community based organizations on the Thai-Burma border to attend a meeting tomorrow, November 17, to explain its on-going ‘peace talks’ with the government. Dr. Gabriel, KBC’s executive officer explained to Karen News that the two-day meeting would discuss religious issues, but this year a special segment…

The end of the monsoon season has seen the Burma Army repairing supply roads to their bases in Karen State. This has caused Karen army officers to question the strategy behind the rebuilding of the supply roads when the government is supposed to be withdrawing its troops from the region. The Burma Army began repairing the transportation road into Thandaung…

Karen community organizations, people and religious leaders in Burma have called for the Karen National Union (KNU) to resolve its internal conflict, unite and to continue its ongoing ‘peace-talks’ with the Burma’s government. Representatives from different Karen social organizations, individuals and religions leaders were meeting for the third time to discuss how they could help, contribute and support the building…