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Dear colleagues, friends and leaders of the Karen communities,
We can't be silence after what has just happened to our homeland where around 2500 people of our civilians in Kler Lwee Htoo District are forced to flee their homes into the jungle in early February in desperate for aid. They are still hiding in the jungle and dare not to collect the food they hid as the Burmese Troops are still occupying the area.
Again on Friday 19th February, the Burmese Army fired a mortar bomb at a school in Mutraw (Papun) district in Northern Karen State . One schoolboy has been killed and two more injured.
We are now planning to have a Global Day of Action regarding the new major military offensive by this brutal Military Dictatorship in Kaw Thoo Lei our homeland.
We would like to ask you to join this Global Day of Action in solidarity and take actions as below.
We would like you to call on your government to say that the attack against Karen civilians is Crimes Against Humanity which is in breach of International law and urge your government to push for United Nations to set up a commission of enquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by SPDC.
Global Day of Action will happen on 9th March 2010. Karen Community Association, UK will be organizing the demonstration in front of British Foreign Office in London at 12:30 – 13:30.
WE ARE CALLING FOR KAREN OVER THE WORLD TO START TAKING SERIOUS ACTIONS ON THAT DAY AND SO ON.
Karen Community Association UK
karencommunity.uk@gmail.com
Sunday 28 February 2010
Friday 26 February 2010
Wednesday 24 February 2010
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Burma's Kachin army prepares for civil war
By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Laiza, northern Burma
The sharp sound of loading and unloading weapons and the barked orders of the sergeant-major cut through the mountains of northern Burma as the young cadets are put through their morning drills.
Their discipline is good, their uniforms smart and there is little doubting their sense of purpose or patriotism towards the red and green flag with crossed machetes they proudly wear on their right shoulders.
They are the next generation of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and say they are not afraid to be the generation that fights in a civil war many fear may soon be upon them.
"The Union of Burma was formed on the basis of equality for ethnic people, but there has been inequality throughout history and we are still being suppressed," said cadet Dashi Zau Krang.
He is 26 and has a degree in business studies, but says inequality has stopped him getting a good job and driven him to join the military.
But he is not afraid.
"The Burmese army may be the strongest in South East Asia, while we are very few, but God will help us to liberate our people to get freedom and equality. This is our responsibility," he said.
It is a war the Kachin people do not want and one they cannot win. But their generals believe a 17-year ceasefire could soon end as a Burmese army deadline approaches, demanding the forces merge or disarm.
They have already refused, and although their leaders are still pushing for a political solution, their commanders are preparing for the worst when time runs out at the end of February.
"I can't say if there will be war for sure, but the government wants us to become a border guard force for them by the end of the month," said the KIA's Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Gam Shawng.
"We will not do that, or disarm, until they have given us a place in a federal union and ethnic rights as was agreed in 1947."
The KIA and its civilian organisation have been allowed to control a large swathe of northern Burma as part of a ceasefire agreement with the country's ruling generals.
Sunday 21 February 2010
Saturday 20 February 2010
Tuesday 16 February 2010
New Attacks on Karen Require International Response
OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
KAREN NATIONAL UNION
KAWTHOOLEI
February 16, 2010
New Attacks on Karen Require International Response
The Karen National Union (KNU) calls upon the international community to demand an immediate end to a new major military offensive against innocent Karen civilians.
Even though Senior General Than Shwe continues making promises to hold free and fair elections, his soldiers are attacking Karen villages, looting and burning them to the ground, arresting and killing innocent Karen civilians, raping women and children and use them as slave labour.
Currently, major new attacks are taking place in Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglaybin) and Mutraw (Papun) Districts in Kawthoolei ( Karen State ). On February 7, 2010, the troops of the Burmese Army entered two Karen villages in Ler Doh (Kyaukkyi) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District and burned them down. As a consequence, seventy-four houses were destroyed. People in eleven villages have been forced to flee for their lives. Around 2,500 people are now hiding in the jungle, in desperate need of aid.
Sunday 14 February 2010
Appeal from Phan Foundation on the second anniversary of the assasination of Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan
Dear Friend
Today is the second anniversary of our father, Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, being killed by agents of the Burmese military dictatorship. We still miss him every day.
Following his death we set up the Phan Foundation, in memory of our father and our mother, Nant Kyin Shwe. The Phan Foundation carries on the work of our parents, helping the Karen people.
In the past two years the Phan Foundation has:
• Provided emergency food aid to internally displaced people (IDPs), forced to flee their homes after attacks by the Burmese Army.
• Given the Padoh Mahn Sha Young Leader Award, which has provided funding for an orphanage and community projects.
• Helped refugees who fled into Thailand in June last year, following a military offensive by the Burmese Army.
• Supported a Karen cultural event in central London, helping to keep Karen culture alive.
• Funded education for IDP students in Karen State.
• Funded clothing for refugee children in Nong Bua temporary refugee camp.
Thousands of people have been helped by the Phan Foundation, but many more need our help. Today, we ask that you make a donation to support our work. You can donate online at: http://www.facebook.com/l/e6f1f;www.phanfoundation.org.
Thank you for your support,
Zoya
......
Nant Zoya Phan
Director
Phan Foundation
Friday 12 February 2010
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Saturday 6 February 2010
Situation Update Regarding the Repatriation of Ler Ber Her Refugees
Situation Update Regarding the Repatriation of Ler Ber Her Refugees
February 5, 2010.
• Between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM, Thai rangers (Hta Han Phan) and militiamen (Au Sau) guarding Noh Boe (Ler Ber Her) Camp left. They also lowered the Thai national flag and took it away with them.
• The Thai rangers (Hta Han Phan) and militiamen (Au Sau) had not returned at the appointed time, 7:00 AM, for the repatriation of 30 refugee families to the old Ler Ber Her IDP Camp.
• Between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM, the Thai rangers (Hta Han Phan) and militiamen (Au Sau) in civilian clothes came back to the camp and asked whether there was anyone who would go back to the old Ler Ber Her Camp.
Thursday 4 February 2010
Media Release from European Karen Network about 3000 Karen refugees.
Media Release from European Karen Network
For immediate Release 4th February 2010
The European Karen Network (EKN) expresses great concern for the safety of the 3000 Karen refugees who are due to be deported back to Burma by the Thai Authorities. Latest reports are that so called ‘voluntary’ repatriation will start on February 5th.
The EKN calls on the Royal Thai government to work with the UNHCR, Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and the international community to find an alternative solution that ensures the safety of these refugees.
The refugees fled into Thailand in June 2009 following a military offensive by the Burmese Army and their allies, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), in Karen State, Eastern Burma. Many of these refugees had already been forced to flee their homes repeatedly before finally finding refuge in Thailand .
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Monday 1 February 2010
European Karen Network Statement On Karen Resistance Day 2010
European Karen Network Statement On Karen Resistance Day 2010
European Karen Network
Statement On Karen Resistance Day 2010
For immediate Release 31st January 2010
European Karen Network
Statement On Karen Resistance Day 2010
For immediate Release 31st January 2010
On this day the European Karen Network, representing Karen communities in Europe, pays tribute to the tens of thousands of Karen people who have lost their lives in the past 61 years as we struggle for our freedom and our very survival.
The Karen people had been peacefully calling for political, social and economic rights, but instead were met with oppression, violence, including state sponsored communal violence, and then faced armed attacks against civilians, and raids and arrests of our political leaders.
Since our people first took up arms to defend ourselves we have been faced with increasingly brutal treatment, as ruling governments and dictatorships have tried to eliminate our culture and our people through suppression and military violence.
We pay tribute to the leadership of the Karen National Union (KNU), which for decades has defended the Karen people, often at great personal sacrifice to its members. Without the KNU all Karen people in Burma would long ago have been under the oppressive rule of the dictatorship, facing policies of Burmanisation, and the destruction of our culture and our people. The KNU has been the voice of our people, ensuring that we are not forgotten.
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