Karen State

A Karen military source has confirmed to Karen News that the Burma Army is building up reinforcements and re-supplying its bases despite a KNU delegation and government representatives agreeing in principle to a ceasefire on January 12. The Karen National Liberation Army, estimate that there have been at least thirteen Burma Army landmines casualties in Karen State since ceasefire talks…

A report by the humanitarian group Free Burma Rangers (FBR) has accused the Burma Army of human rights abuses and armed mobilization in Karen State despite Burma’s Government holding ceasefire negotiations with Karen leaders two weeks ago. Post Views: 536

An alliance of humanitarian agencies working with displaced people from Burma say the current, if small signs, of a shift to democratic reform in the country offers an opportunity to resolve ethnic conflict. The alliance, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium’s, annual survey of conditions in South East Burma “found that more people had been forcibly displaced from their homes during…

The Union Solidarity and Development Party, Burma’s ruling party are on a recruitment drive to gain party members in Karen State, according to local residents. Local USDP members in Three Pagoda Pass area of Kyain Seikgyi Township in Karen State are campaigning in villages around the region to get more Karen to join their party. An eyewitness to the USDP…

A Karen political party, Plao-Swaw Democratic Party (PSDP) urged the European Union to help civilians in Papun, Kyain Seikygi and southern Kawkariek Township, Karen state. The request comes after Ms Kristalina Georgieva, the EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, officially visited Burma in early September and promised 22 euro million in aid for civilians living in…

A severe influenza outbreak among school children in Si Poe Khee village, Pai Kyone Township last week has so far infected more than 40 children. Saw Mu Ka Paw, the Si Poe Khee school’s head master said many children were unable to attend school and people are worried the influenza will infect adults. “We don’t have any clinic in our…

A Democratic Karen Buddhist Army commander told Karen News that the breakaway DKBA factions that refused to give up their Karen identity and come under the direct control of the Burma Army by becoming members of the Border Guard Force have begun restructuring their political and military aims. The decision was taken at a meeting in August that involved all…

I don’t think many people in the west have any real understanding of what it is like to be driven out of your country, to have to flee for your life, leaving your possessions, friends, everything you know behind you, and never knowing if or when you will ever being able to go back. As if that horrible experience isn’t…

Karen people gathered in the US, UK, Norway, Sweden, Asia, Canada and Ireland and in jungle bases back in their homeland on 12th August, to commemorate their 61st Martyr’s Day. Saw Ehna reports from Karen State. In a jungle base in Southern Burma, 400 supporters from the Karen National Union’s Mergui-Tavoy District office commemorated the 61st Karen Martyrs’ Day with…

Ethnic minority communities in eastern Burma continue to endure widespread human rights abuses despite the government’s nominal transition to a civilian government, a UN human rights envoy told reporters in late May. Tomas Quintana, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, said in prepared remarks that Burma’s “systematic militarization” continues to promote “land confiscation, forced labor, internal displacement,…