KNU

Government Minister wants to build a village to house returning refugees. U Zaw Min, the chief minister of Karen State, proposed to the Karen National Union’s (KNU) Thaton District on September 28, that he would like to build a village in Hpa An area for refugees living on the Thai border to return to. Saw Aung Thaung Thein, from the…

The Karen National Union’s vice-chairperson, Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein, concludes a three part exclusive interview with Karen News. Naw Zipporah Sein stressed that a nationwide ceasefire is not possible while there is still ongoing conflict and displacement in ethnic states. “How can we sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement while fighting is still going on in the Kachin and northern Shan…

In a part two of an exclusive interview with Karen News, the Karen National Union’s vice-chairperson, Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein, explains why it is crucial that a code-of-conduct for the Burma Army and the Karen Army is needed. Naw Zipporah Sein urged that a code-of-conduct has to be signed before the peace talks can move to the next stage. “One…

In an exclusive three-part interview with Karen News, the Karen National Union’s vice-chairperson, Padoh Naw Zipporah Sein, voiced her concerns that the government is rushing to sign a nationwide ceasefire without regard for the on-the-ground realities of ongoing armed conflict in ethnic areas or of failing to complete its obligations agreed to in previous peace talk meetings. Naw Zipporah Sein…

A senior member of the Karen National Union (KNU) told a public meeting that the Burmese government and ethnic armed groups plan to sign nationwide ceasefire by November. P’doh Mahn Nyein Maung, a central executive committee member, was speaking at a public meeting at its headquarter in Brigade 7 to update Karen people and KNU members of teh KNU’s on-going…

The Burma Army reneged on an agreement it had with the Karen National Union and arrested two Karen soldiers for collecting taxes at a temporary checkpoint. The two soldiers, from the Karen National Liberation Army Brigade 2, based in the Taungoo District were arrested while on checkpoint duty, by the Burma Army on October 1. Padoh Saw Eh Wah, the…

The head of Burma’s military met with members of the Karen armed resistance in the country’s capital to discuss how the ceasefire between the two could be progressed. The meeting is seen by ethnic leaders as a move by the government to acknowledge the Karen National Union (KNU) as a necessary component in the country’s political future. The delegation met…

The Karen National Union met last week with Burma government officials in Rangoon and Nay Pyi Daw to try to give its ceasefire arrangements and peace talks a higher priority ranking. A KNU nine-member delegation led by its chairman, General Mutu Say Poe left for Burma on September 26 to meet with both the government’s senior administrators and its military…

Karen National Union (KNU) leaders based in southern Burma have called on the parliament speaker, Thura Shwe Mann, to help move forward the the ‘cease-fire code of conduct’ between the KNU and the government. P’doh Saw Beeler, Joint Secretary of KNU’s Mergui-Tavoy District, urged Thura Shwe Mann who visited southern Burma recently to urgently help get both sides to accept…

A Karen National Union (KNU) delegation led by its chairman General Mutu Say Poe met recently with Karen political parties in Hpa-an to discuss plans it has for amendments to Burma’s contentious 2008 Constitution. The KNU delegation met with the Phalon Sawaw Democratic Party (PSDP), the Karen People Party (KPP), Karen State Development Party (PSDP) and Karen Democratic Party (KDP)…