Although the Burmese military doesn’t want camps established for those recently displaced by clashes between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army, a cabinet official for the government has insisted that camps should be set up if necessary.
Thousands in Kachin State’s capital Myitkyina joined a rally on Monday demanding safe passage for displaced civilians trapped amid clashes between the Burmese military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
“Local villagers are simply too afraid to stay in homes close to the fighting, because they can hear and feel the constant blasts of heavy artillery fire.”
Features IDPs Kachin Lead Story Video
DVB’s “Doh Pyay Doh Myay” team finds hardship and hope in a Kachin State camp for those internally displaced by conflict.
Interview Kachin Lead Story News
DVB sat down with Khon Ja to reflect on the year gone by and what the outlook for 2018 looks like in Kachin State.
“Despite the fact that intense hostilities are continuing between the two sides, I believe that this informal meeting could pave the way for a shift from armed conflict to political dialogues,” Naw Bo told DVB.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
The continuing hostilities, which began on 19 January in Sumprabum township, Putao District, in northernmost Kachin State, have included numerous rounds of mortar fire and artillery.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
Government forces have reportedly launched assaults on its positions across Kachin State, including artillery shelling near the Kachin headquarters of Laiza.
A Shan State court on Friday sentenced two Kachin pastors to harsh multi-year prison sentences after they were caught up in conflict in Muse Township, with the two men found guilty of all charges brought against them, including “unlawful association.”
Education Kachin Lead Story News
“The state counsellor told me that every child has a right to education,” said KBC’s Reverend Samson Hkalam.
Kachin Lead Story Natural resources News
Church leaders in Tanai estimate that about a thousand people have sought sanctuary at churches in the town.
Kachin Lead Story Natural resources News
The Burmese military air-dropped leaflets stating that anyone remaining after 15 June would be considered an associate of the outlawed KIO.
We do requests donations from local businesses, but never using force or threats,” the KIO responded.
The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) and the Wa National Organisation (WNO) have withdrawn from the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a formerly seven-member coalition of ethnic armed groups.
During a brief trip to conflict-wracked Kachin State on Tuesday, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi visited displacement camps and, in a lighter moment, posed for photos with a pair of nonagenarians who similarly smiled for the camera with Suu Kyi’s father more than a half-century ago.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News Photos
Last month hundreds of internally displaced persons fled renewed conflict in Burma’s north. For many, they traded one IDP camp for another.
Two Kachin pastors who went missing last month and were feared dead are alive and in Burmese Army custody, according to the Office of the Defence Services’ Commander-in-Chief.
Human rights organisations have called on the government to investigate the disappearance of two Kachin pastors in northern Shan State.
Human Rights Kachin Lead Story News
Yanghee Lee is on a 12-day fact-finding visit to Burma to assess developments within various human rights situations across the country.
Conflict IDPs Kachin Lead Story Military News
A recent offensive by the Burmese military in Kachin State, seizing the Kachin Independence Army’s Gidon mountain outpost, has exacerbated the dire conditions for displaced people living in the area as northern Burma enters its coldest stretch of the year.
Conflict IDPs Lead Story News Shan
Up to 15,000 people may have fled across Burma’s border into China in the past month, a United Nations agency has said, as fighting between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups intensifies.
The Northern Alliance has engaged in hostilities against Burmese government forces in northern Shan State for over two weeks.
“The Myanmar Tatmadaw [armed forces] consistently hinders food transportation to the most needed area in Kachin State,” says JST.
Conflict Ethnic issues Kachin Lead Story News
Hundreds of people gathered in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina on Monday to call on the Burmese army to end its offensive against the KIA.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story Military News
Kachin exile groups say US sanctions on the Burmese military should stay in place until the conflict in Kachin State is resolved.
Education IDPs Lead Story News
As efforts to expand education opportunities in rebel-controlled parts of Kachin State grow, many hope the peace process will bring lasting solutions.
Witnesses at the scene said that a red wire trailing from a ditch at the side of the road.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Rights groups mark the fifth anniversary of the Kachin conflict with calls on the Burmese government to do more for displaced civilians and victims of atrocities.
Contributor Kachin Lead Story News
Kachin NGOs react to China’s perceived attempt to resurrect Myitsone dam project.
Drugs Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Tensions are high in Kachin state as members of anti-drug vigilante group Pat Ja San faced off with local opium farmers on Monday.
