Karen

Karen political and community groups representing Karen communities from across Burma will hold a Karen National Convention in 2014 to discuss the cooperation between Karen armed organisations and political parties in ensuring there is unity going into the future. The Karen Unity and Peace Committee (KUPC) held a meeting on April 10 in Pyin Oo Lwin that led to the…

Human rights organisations and ethnic political groups have called for an international investigation into systematic sexual abuses committed by the Burma Army, noting that reports of rape continue to emerge three years after reformist President Thein Sein’s administration took power. The Kachin National Oganisation, a political party from Kachin State, called for an international investigation and alleged it had documented…

The Karen Women Organization held ceremonies on April 5 marking its 29th anniversary in locations in Karen State and along the Thai Burma border. The KWO used its anniversary to draw attention to the status of women’s legal protection, the need to respect women and the need to promote women’s role in the peace process. The KWO released a report…

An international coalition of Karen community-based-organizations (CBOs) has sent a letter to the United Nations Population Fund expressing “deep concern” with Burma’s approaching national census – urging it be postponed. The letter argues that the census is being carried out prematurely citing issues with the categorization of ethnic nationalities, and that the census forms would only be in Burmese language.…

A humanitarian worker from Free Burma Rangers (FBR) was shot and badly wounded on February 18 while working in Northern Karen State. Saw Shae Say, 25, who works as a video recorder with FBR, was shot while monitoring Burma Army troop movements near Luthaw Township, Papun District, in Karen National Union (KNU) territory, despite a ceasefire being in place. Karen…

The Karen refugees in Thailand could be facing a new situation before we even know of it! Over the past years foreign donors and NGOs have chosen to abandon the border area and direct their support and aid through Rangoon via government-controlled agencies. The thinking is that when they have chosen to “engage” with President Thein Sein´s government they agree…

Two leading Karen Women’s groups, the Karen Women’s Organisation and the Karen Women’s Empowerment Group (KWEG) have urged Burma’s reformist government to improve women’s rights in the country as the world marks international women’s day, arguing that peace could not be reached without respect for women’s rights. ”Lasting peace in Burma cannot be achieved without justice for the women of…

The Karen National Union (KNU) has just finished a training program for a Karen police force in KNU controlled areas, aimed at improving the law enforcement capabilities of the Karen national police force. The two-week long training course held at Lay Wah in Hlaing Bwe township of Karen State ended on the 21st of February. The KNU’s Department of the…

Karen National Union officials have proposed the government use local based teachers as data collectors when the planned census is conducted in KNU control areas. KNU officials in Dooplaya district told Karen News that they have proposed to the Karen State Census Committee to use local teachers in Dooplaya district for the census. The proposal was made during a meeting…

A Karen environmental group has voiced its concern over a Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) report detailing development plans for southeast Myanmar. The Thailand based Karen Environmental and Social Action Network Group (KESAN) raised the concerns in a document released to the press, saying that the 593-page document ‘Preparatory Survey for the Integrated Regional Development for Ethnic Minorities in the…