fighting

Saw Hta, 31 is migrant living and working in in Phopra area. He is originally from Kawkreik Township in Karen State, Burma. Saw Hta left his home more than ten years ago and only visited his place of origin once. Saw Hta said that living as a migrant in Thailand had its advantages and disadvantages. “On one hand, our livelihood…

The ethnic alliance, the United Nationalities Federal Council, blamed the government for the fighting in Kachin State. The UNFC said the ongoing fighting in kachin State is a result of the government’s territorial containment policy in ethnic states. The UNFC said that thousands of Kachin civilians have been forced from their homes due to the recent fighting on November 17…

As peace negotiations continue, Kachin people continue to suffer human rights abuses including rape and arbitrary killings at the hands of the Burma Army, according to community-based organisations. The conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and Burma’s Army since June 2011 has left over 350 villages in trouble, some abandoned completely, and over 100,000 civilians displaced. The Kachin Women’s Association…

Fighting between the Karen National Liberation Army and the government’s militia, the Border Guard Force (BGF) erupted in the Weigyi area of Papun Township, Karen State last week. Soldiers from KNLA Battalion 102 Company under the command of Lieutenant Saw Eh Ka Mwe fought with BGF troops led by Lieutenant AB Lwin from Battalion 1014. The KNLA had 20 soldiers…

U Kyar Ku, 51 year-old a villager from Kaw Thin Shue, who is on a police wanted list was arrested on August 13 by Hpa-an police and charged with drug and weapon offenses. Speaking to Karen News, a police officer from Myoma Police Station in Hpa-an Townships said. “With information we got from a villager, we arrested the suspect who…

The independent Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), documented in May that two incidents involving grenades and fired by soldiers wounded villagers, including children. The civilians suffered from injuries from grenades of the government’s militia, Border Guard Force, in Bo Tho Township, Papun Distict, Karen State. I In January 2013, a 23-year-old woman and her one-year-old son were wounded when a…

A Shan human rights group condemned the Burma Army for shelling a Buddhist temple in central Shan State, eastern Burma and said the government disrespects religion, except when it uses it for its own propaganda. The Shan Human Rights Foundation claim that last week Burmese troops from Light Infantry Battalion 525 launched an artillery attack on the village of Wan…

Burma’s military has renewed offensives in Shan State this month, leading to displacement of civilians and has occupied a Buddhist temple, turning it into a military base, say local rights group. As Burma’s military attacked the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) last week, a Buddhist temple found itself in the middle of the conflict zone. On June 23, the Army sent…

Thousands of displaced civilians fleeing conflict between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) in Kachin State, now face a life of extreme hardship with little to no access to food, medicine, clothing and in appalling living conditions. Free Burma Rangers, a frontline humanitarian organization providing medical assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burma, report that as…

A soldier from the government’s controlled Border Guard Force (BGF) is alleged to have repeatedly fired his gun at a boat loaded with cement bags at a tax gate on the River Moei on the Thai-Burma Border. The incident happened on May 7 at tax gate 14 and involved a soldier from the BGF’s Battalion 1021st that is based in…