Karen

Nominations for the 2013 Padoh Mahn Sha Young Leader Award are now open. The award acknowledges young Karen who have shown outstanding leadership in achieving the goals of the Foundation in areas such as fighting poverty, promoting education, promoting development and preserving Karen culture. An award of $2000 is also given to the organisation or community of the winner. The…

Karen communities urge the Karen National Union (KNU) to push the Burmese government to allow their native language to be taught in schools. Community leaders and elders said Karen villages in the government control area want the right to teach their native language. At a recent meeting in the KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy district, in Southern Burma, villager representatives encouraged its political…

The unconnected death of two refugee women within a month at a refugee camp on the Thai Burma border has triggered fears about the security of women living in the camps. Mae La Refugee Camp officials found the decomposed body of missing elderly refugee woman near the camp on Monday. The dead woman was identified as Daw Gyin Myiang, 78…

A number of international governments, organisations and individuals try to squeeze the current situation of the Karen people into a narrow, restrictive and simplistic narrative that is usually framed like this. ‘After more than sixty years of conflict, at last the Karen have peace. There has been a ceasefire for almost two years, the Karen National Union and government of…

Food rations for refugees living in the seven refugee camps on the Thai border will be reduced due to funding cuts by international aid organizations. Refugees will get reduced food rations from November 2013. In an exclusive interview with Karen News refugees tell how they will cope with less food. Saw Roger, now in his 60’s has been a Mae…

Monks and a Malaysian construction plan to install a cable car on Karen State’s famous and symbolic, Zwekabin Mountain. A Pagoda at the top of Zwekabin Mountain, near Hpa-an Town, is visited each day by hundreds of Buddhists pilgrims and tourists who make the arduous three to four hour trek each day. The cable car project organizing committee said that…

The leaders of four different Karen political parties met over two days to discuss how to merge their organisations into one for Burma’s next general election in 2015. In an effort to merge the parties, leaders of the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party, the Karen People’s Party, the Karen State Democracy and Development Party, and the Karen Democratic Party – all which…

Yesterday more than a 100 young men and women helped the Mergui-Tavoy District branch of the Karen Women’s Organization celebrated the International Day of Peace at their jungle office in Southern Burma. The KWO embraced the slogan ‘Peace begins in the family and spreads to the world.’ P’doh Naw May Ro Paw, secretary of KWO Mergui-Tavoy District said. “This is…

A Karen migrant worker died after falling from the sixth floor of Chiang Mai construction site on Monday, September 16. The dead worker was identified as 20-year-old, Saw Ye Tun Naing, who came to work in Chaing Mai from the Delta region of Burma. Saw Than Hlaing , a fellow migrant worker, told Karen News that Saw Ye Tun Naing…

Naw K’nyaw Paw, an executive member of the Karen Women’s Organization, in part two of and exclusive interview with Karen News talks about the impact of drugs and gambling on family life and the added stresses women now face in Burma’s changing political landscape. Karen Women Are A Part Of The Struggle To Free Our People Karen women must participate…