Karen State

Local residents and community leaders gathered to meet with local press at Zayat Phyu village on October 8, to express their opposition against the proposed coal power plant to supply electricity for the No.2 Myaing Galay cement plant near Hpa-an. On the mid-September 2016, the villagers were informed by officials from the Ministry of Energy and from the cement plant…

The Karen People’s Party (KPP) has formally submitted a proposal for constitutional reform with the object of making the State Chief Ministers elected by the people, rather than appointed by the government of the day, as is the case now. Nant Khin Aye Oo, from the KPP, said: “The people know those who are good and intelligent in their own…

Armed clashes broke out in Karen State between splinter Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) forces and government backed militia. The fighting started in central Karen State on September 2nd, in Mae Tha Waw areas in Hlaingbwe Township, and has continued over the last few days. According to both BGF and DKBA sources, four armed clashes were reported within a day…

Despite the recent change of government, displaced Karen people hold little hope for justice while Myanmar’s military maintains its presence in ethnic lands. Monsoon rains drench the cluster of small bamboo huts clinging to the sides of the Salween River bank that separates Thailand from Myanmar. The 475 leaf-roofed huts are home to 3,356 Karen people that make up the…

The delay in the National Electrification Project (NEP) has caused villagers to doubt it will become a reality, but they are worried that the second installment they paid for is now lost. The National Electrification Project is a joint venture by the World Bank and the Department of Rural Development that was supposed to deliver electricity to villages by late…

Compensation would be given to locals whose farmlands or fruit tree plantations were affected by the two power cable projects from Myawady to Mawlamyaing and Myawady to Kawkareik. The Myawady-Mawlamyaing 230 KV and Myawady-Kawkareik 66 KV power line projects is being built, some of its towers run through farmlands and plantations. Government officials have said that a committee will be…

An 11-memeber new central executive committee was voted in at the 5th Karen Youth Organization congress held on June 29 at Lay Wah (Law Khee Lar), Pa-an district in Karen State. The new elected central executive members include Saw Ler Ner as chairman, Saw Eh Soe as vice-chairman, Saw Lar Set Wah as general secretary, Saw Thoo Lei as joint…

A prosthetic leg production center has been set up in Klo Yaw Lay area of Hlaingbwe Township on June 20, with the coordination of Kawthoolei Department of Health and Welfare and Mae Tao Clinic with support of donors from South Korea. The building of the prosthetic workshop started in February 2016. Padoh Saw Eh K’lu Shwe Oo, head of the…

Karen representatives from various parts of Burma and overseas got together in move to prepare for forthcoming national peace talks pointed out that despite Burma having democratically elected government the military continues to hold power under the country’s current constitution. More than 150 Karen representatives traveled to the Karen National Union’s Law Khee Lar, Hpa-an District to discuss major issues…

Karen National Union leaders has called for respective state and regional governments to recognized land rights and policies that are already in place for decades in ethnic areas and agreed to by both ethnic communities and armed groups. Padoh Mahn Mahn, the joint general secretary of the Karen National Union made the call to the government during the launch of…