The 2nd Conference of European Karen Network will be held in Denmark in December

 

To
                 Karen communities in Europe,

It is my pleasure to invite your organization to the second annual meeting of European Karen Network, which will be held in Nyborg, Denmark, from 28-29 December 2010. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss about the work of European Karen Network, to build more understanding among different communities and work towards the goal of the network.

The European Karen Network aims to raise awareness about the situation in Karen State and Burma as a whole and pressure European governments to do more to bring about democratic transition in Burma.

The 4 key objectives are:

1. To act as a strong public voice on behalf of the Karen National Union, which is the true representative of the Karen people of Burma, and is a democratic Karen organization committed to human rights and democracy in Burma, and to raise awareness about the suffering of the Karen people and the struggle for a federal Burma where all people live in peace, democracy and harmony.
2. To strengthen and improve coordination of Karen communities Europe wide.
3. To seek stronger action on Burma from the international communities including European governments, the European Union, the United Nations Security Council, and other governments and international institutions.
4. To promote unity among Karen worldwide and foster contacts with all Karen people from Burma, including in Kawthoolei (Karen State), and other Karen people worldwide.

I would be grateful if you could let me know whether you are available to participate and how many of you will be able to join us.

Below is briefing information with details for the meeting arrangement. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully,


Nan Kyi Aye
Meeting organizer
Representative from Karen Community Norway.

PS. If you are a Karen and living in any countries of Europe and would like to attend this conference, please contact us here at facebook.

WaiHnin's Jump for Freedom

Thanks for the welcome, but do you really mean it?

As Japan eases up on Burmese asylum seekers, those in Tokyo's Little Yangon question the motive

By Jessica Ocheltree 18 October, 2010

 

asylum seeker burmese refugees japanThe first refugees are greeted by the press at Narita.

Over the past two weeks, 90 Burmese refugees have arrived in Tokyo as part of a United Nations-promoted third-country resettlement program. They are members of the Karen ethnic group and have been living in Thai refugee camps for years.

 

 Some 18 ethnic minority refugees who had fled to a Thai refugee camp from military-ruled Myanmar arrive in Japan.

 Japan falls behind other Western nations

Many analysts have applauded Japan's decision to participate in the program, saying that it represents a new turn in the government's policy on asylum.

Although they are one of the top providers of humanitarian aid, the Japanese have been criticized in the past for their reluctance to accept refugees.

Last year, they issued just 30 refugee visas, while the statistics for other wealthy, industrialized nations can number in the tens of thousands.

Burmese asylum-seekers who already live in Japan are watching the developments with a slightly more cynical eye, however.

As part of the program, the new arrivals were issued refugee visas before coming to Japan. They are also going to be provided with six months of language and culture training, as well as housing and job placement assistance. 

Time in limbo

All of these measures are welcome and necessary, but they starkly contrast with the experience of conventional asylum seekers.

People who apply for asylum after entering the country often spend years in limbo waiting for their application to be processed.

 

Many of Japan's Burmese population came out to show support for the new arrivals.

Many report that immigration officers responsible for their case know very little about the political situation in Myanmar (previously known as Burma) and fail to understand why a deportation order could be a death sentence. Several refugees say they were accused of lying when they reported having been arrested and tortured by the Burmese military junta.

Meanwhile, the temporary visas given to applicants while their claims are considered make it difficult to legally work, to obtain housing or to travel, and so the vast majority of people end up in Burmese enclaves around Takadanobaba station, the only place where any assistance is forthcoming. It's known among the community as “Little Yangon.”

According to Saw Ba Hla Thein of the Karen National League, who was granted refugee status in 2006 and now consults with the UNHCR and the Japanese government on Karen issues, the system in Japan is simply not set up for refugees.

“Japan doesn't have a refugee council or refugee resettlement centers. When there's something wrong, we don't even know who we should talk to,” he says. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggests talking to Immigration, who pass them to the Ministry of Home Affairs, who send them back to MOFA, he says.

asylum seeker burmese refugees japan

 

 

A Myanmar refugee speaks to reporters upon her arrival at the Narita international airport on September 28, 2010.

Ulterior motives

Many Burmese question the motives of the Japanese government in accepting refugees as part of a high-profile UN program while remaining so unfriendly to applicants already within their borders.

As Phone Hlaing, vice president of the Federation of Workers' Union of the Burmese Citizen (FWUBC), put it, “There will be an election [in Burma next month], so if the Japanese government believes the 2010 election is the real answer for our country, they would not accept refugees now. Almost everyone thinks Japan wants to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, so they want to show their leadership, their responsibility.”

Others suggest that Japan has economic motives.

While most conventional Burmese refugees are well-educated and middle-class, the people accepted in the new program are generally large families from rural areas, leading to speculation that the decision was motivated by the social reality of a Japan with an aging population and an understaffed agricultural sector.

Although it has not yet been decided where the new refugees will finally settle, the city of Matsumoto in Nagano has expressed a willingness to take them.

 

  Tin Win Akbar speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.

Contribution not profit

For Tin Win Akbar, president of FWUBC and a well-known Burmese activist, accepting refugees shouldn't be something you do because you expect something in return.

“[It] is not taking some opportunity, it's a contribution. It's a humanitarian consideration, a human rights consideration. [The Japanese] do not understand that,” he says.

For now, the Burmese community is happy that a few more of their number have escaped life in the camps and have come to a country where they are at least free to pursue their political activities.

But if the Japanese government would really like to help, they say, it should stop supporting the military government in Myanmar. Then they might have a chance at what they really want: to go home.

Read more: Thanks for the welcome, but do you really mean it? | 

 CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/burmese-refugees-in-japan-752414#ixzz12nC6b8K4

Refugee Repatriation

Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK and Advisor at Karen Community Association UK, speaks at European Parliament

INVITATION TO A DAY WITH KAREN PEOPLE IN BURMA

Saturday- 30th October, Baptist Church Hall, Cemetery Rd

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The Karen Community Association would like to invite you for an important fundraising event to raise funds to provide schooling for the Internally Displaced children in Burma.

The event will include a recent film documenting life in Karen state – Eastern Burma and a concert performed by youngsters from various Sheffield communities.

There will also be some invited speakers from the Karen National Union highlighting the situation of the Karen ethnic group during the election run by the Burmese military regime.

Tickets: can be bought on an arrival priced at £5 for an adult and £3 for a child.

Time: 10 am – 2 pm

Venue: Baptist Church Hall, 11 Napier St, Sheffield, S11 8HE

Refreshments: Tea, Coffee, Soft drink and biscuits will be available

We look forward to seeing you there.

Yours Faithfully

Mr Lah Kei Htoo (Karen community Association Chair)

Burma/possible release of Aung San Suu Kyi – Statement by the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry Spokesman

Paris, October 4, 2010

Recent statements from the Burmese junta talk about Aung San Suu Kyi’s possible release on 13 November.

In no way at all can this be deemed a measure of clemency on the part of the junta. Indeed, Aung San Suu Kyi’s term of house arrest ends on 13 November this year.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s possible release must not consign to oblivion the thousands of other Burmese political prisoners. France, with her European Union partners, has continuously called for their release along with that of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dialogue between the regime and the opposition is today nonexistent. The conditions for a free, democratic election on 7 November are not present. Everything remains to be done in order for Burma to take the path towards genuine national reconciliation. We will go on standing alongside the champions of the democratic cause in Burma./.

Scepticism over plan to 'free' Aung San Suu Kyi

By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent

Friday, 1 October 2010

Could detained Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi be released after polls scheduled to take place next month?

Activists have questioned a report that says Burmese officials have declared their intention to release the Nobel laureate when her current term of house imprisonment concludes on 13 November.

But a news agency report quoted two unidentified officials saying she would be set free, six days after the election planned for 7 November. "November will be an important and busy month for us because of the election and because of Aung San Suu Kyi's release," the Agence France-Presse quoted a Burmese official as saying.

Another unidentified official said: "She will be released on that day according to the law."

The 65-year-old and her National League for Democracy party will play no role in the election, which many Western observers believe will further cement the position of the military. Her party voted to boycott the polls because it said they could not be considered fair while so many political prisoners remained behind bars. Ms Suu Kyi will also not be permitted to vote.

Last night, Mark Farmaner, of the Burma Campaign UK, questioned the report.

"We hope this report is correct, but regime officials have said similar things in the past and Aung San Suu Kyi has remained in detention," he said. "We'll believe it when we see it."

He said even if she were released it may not be as significant as was assumed. "She has been released twice before without there being any political change in the country," he explained.

"It is more likely that the dictatorship will try to use her release to attempt to persuade the international community to relax pressure on them.''