Tag: Karen

Myanmar’s blocking of aid to Kachin ‘may amount to war crime’ – report

August 31, 2018 Myanmar IDPs, Kachin, Karen, Myanmar, Refugees, Rohingya, Southeast Asia, UN

An elderly Kachin woman looks for shelter after fleeing fighting between Myanmar's army and Kachin rebels in December 2011. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Myanmar has blocked humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of forcibly displaced people in the ongoing war in northern Kachin state – for over seven years – says humanitarian group Fortify Rights in a new report. “Consecutive governments and the military have wilfully obstructed local and international aid groups, denying . . . Read More

Myanmar’s ‘forgotten Christians’

August 16, 2018 Myanmar IDPs, Kachin, Karen, Minorities, Myanmar, Refugees, Shan, Youth

An internally displaced woman with a child stands near a temporary shelter in a church compound in Kachin's capital Myitkyina. (Photo: YE AUNG THU/AFP/Getty Images)

While the world is focusing on the plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, Christians caught up in another conflict, in northern Kachin, are largely forgotten, writes Geoffrey P. Johnston for Canadian newspaper The Whig. Thousands have been killed and least 120,000 displaced in majority-Christian Kachin state, where the army and the . . . Read More

Myanmar: Peace talks resume but ethnic autonomy not on the agenda

July 12, 2018 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Chin, China, Churches, Human rights, Kachin, Karen, Ma Ba Tha, Minorities, Myanmar, Myitkyina, Panglong, Rakhine, Rohingya, Sanctions, Tatmadaw

Myanmar's defacto leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the 2016 Panglong Conference. (Photo: AUNG HTET/AFP/Getty Images)

A third round of peace talks are taking place in Myanmar this week between armed ethnic groups and government forces, but the military has ruled out discussions on the autonomy that ethnic groups crave. The six-day meeting, which has been dubbed the 21st century ‘Panglong Conference’ after the historic 1947 . . . Read More

Myanmar: new peace talks announced during Pope’s visit

November 29, 2017 Myanmar Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Myanmar, Panglong, Pope Francis, Rohingya, Shan

Pope Francis meeting Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit to Myanmar, Nov 2017 (Getty)

The third ‘Panglong Conference’ has been announced by Myanmar’s government during an official visit by Pope Francis, reports Catholic news agency Fides. Tabled for the last week in January, it will be the latest in a series of peace negotiations between armed ethnic groups and government forces. The original Panglong . . . Read More

2017 Myanmar refugee suicide study

January 12, 2017 Myanmar Karen, Myanmar, Refugees, Trauma, Women

A new study has found a high incidence of suicide among women in camps housing long-term refugees fleeing Myanmar’s ethnic conflict, reports the BBC News Magazine. In a study of refugees in Thailand’s Mae La camp, where 90% are ethnically Karen – a group that mainly identifies as Christian – . . . Read More

Myanmar Christians join latest peace talks

September 1, 2016 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, Kachin, Karen, Myanmar, Nay Pyi Taw, Rape, Refugees, Women

Myanmar’s Christians have joined other ethnic groups at this week’s five-day peace conference in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, aimed at ending decades of conflict. The conference was attended by the UN Secretary-General, but some critics say it’s happened without enough preparation and consultation. The 17 ethnic groups, including representatives . . . Read More

Monk stokes religious tension in Myanmar

June 8, 2016 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Cardinal Bo, Catholics, Churches, Hlaingbwe, Karen, Myanmar, Religious freedom

An influential Myanmar monk looks set to continue his controversial plan of building Buddhist temples on or close to the grounds of churches, says . On 6 June, Myaing Kyee Ngu and his supporters arrived near St Mark’s church in Hlaingbwe – one of the largest townships in Karen State, . . . Read More

Freedom of religion among Myanmar’s ‘biggest challenges’

May 26, 2016 Myanmar Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Ma Ba Tha, Myanmar, Naga, Religious freedom, Yangon

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Myanmar’s first Catholic Cardinal, at the UK Parliament in London, 25 May, 2016. World Watch Monitor Myanmar’s first ever Catholic Cardinal has said protecting freedom of religion or belief for all is among the “biggest challenges” facing his country as it adapts to life after . . . Read More

Myanmar monk builds pagoda on church grounds

April 28, 2016 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Churches, Karen, Myanmar

A Myanmar Christian leader appealed for calm Wednesday after an influential Buddhist monk built pagodas within the compound of a church in a country beset with religious tensions, . Supporters of the monk Myaing Kyee Ngu erected a religious statue and planted a Buddhist flag on a church’s grounds in . . . Read More

Ethnic affairs ministry ‘vital’ to Myanmar

March 22, 2016 Myanmar Kachin, Karen, Minorities, Myanmar

Myanmar’s new President-elect says the appointment of a new ethnic affairs ministry is “vital” for the country’s future. In his first public address, Htin Kyaw said the ministry would be central to Myanmar’s “peace, development and sustainability”. Myanmar is made up of eight major ethnic groups, who all hoped for . . . Read More

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