The Burmese government is drawing up plans to shutter displacement camps across the country, but aid workers say food rations and sustainable security should be first on the priority list.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
The launch of a Karen rights organisation’s report has been blocked in Chiang Mai, Thailand, after authorities pressured a local university to cancel the event.
Ethnic issues Lead Story Photos
For many ethnic Lisu, a mostly Christian minority who inhabit the Burma-China border region, the crossbow is an indispensable part of their culture dating back to 200 BC.
Joining a rising chorus of voices objecting to the encroachment of Burma Army troops into territory in Karen State, hundreds of villagers in the state’s Hpapun Township staged a protest on Monday, calling on the military to withdraw its forces.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army flared once again this week in Kyaukme Township, Shan State, with a shelling from the clashes landing in a local village and killing two civilians.
Ethnic issues Karenni Lead Story News
“Because of the current law, Kayah State does not even have a Kayan Ethnic Affairs Minister. But Shan State does.”
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Clashes between the New Mon State Party and the Karen National Union, two Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signatories, erupted on Sunday morning in Yebyu Township, Tanintharyi Region.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
A clash between soldiers from the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and Battalion 16 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) reportedly erupted over the weekend near Mahn Aung village in Ye Township, Mon State. The skirmish flared eight miles away from the village.
The New Mon State Party and Lahu Democratic Union signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) on Tuesday, fulfilling a pledge that the two ethnic armed groups made last month to accede to an accord initially inked by eight non-state armies more than two years ago.
Ethnic issues Lead Story Photos Shan
During the 71st Shan State National Day commemoration at the headquarters of the Restoration Council of Shan State’s Loi Tai Leng headquarters, European ambassadors and UN representatives rubbed shoulders with ethnic armed group leaders.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The New Mon State Party and Lahu Democratic Union will sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement on 13 February, with their accession to the accord marking one of the most substantive breakthroughs in Burma’s peace process since the National League for Democracy took power nearly two years ago.
Ethnic issues Karenni Lead Story News
Five Karenni men were released from Loikaw Prison on Wednesday after serving 20-day sentences for violating Burma’s Peaceful Assembly Law, and the day prior three other men who were arrested for holding a subsequent solidarity protest were informed that the prosecution would be dropping their case.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The New Mon State Party will sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, marking the first time that an ethnic armed organisation has acceded to the accord since eight initial non-state signatories joined the previous government and military in formally agreeing to its terms over two years ago.
Ethnic issues Kachin Lead Story News Politics
Three political parties who stake their appeal on claims to represent the interests of the ethnic Kachin population in northern Burma have agreed to merge, after none of them managed to make much headway at the polls in the country’s 2015 general election.
Ethnic issues Kachin Lead Story News
The Kachin Independence Organisation holds a ceremony in Laiza, Kachin State, to mark the retirement of its now former chairman and appointment of his successor.
Analysis Ethnic issues Lead Story Peace Process
Insofar as the Union government’s agenda for ethnic reconciliation is concerned, there is little doubt that the north, where the most powerful rebel armies operate, holds the key to a permanent negotiated settlement.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), Burma’s main ethnic Shan political party, has strongly criticised the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) for what it says is the latter’s neglect of the concerns and political representatives of ethnic minorities.
Aung San Suu Kyi reaffirms her commitment to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement at the second anniversary of the pact’s signing as Burma’s commander-in-chief urges holdouts to get on board and the leader of the most prominent ethnic armed signatory to the accord acknowledges doubts about the peace process.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee released a statement on Thursday conveying the ethnic armed bloc’s intention to join the next iteration of the government’s 21st Century Panglong Conference if its members are officially invited to do so.
A major member of the United Nationalities Federal Council, the Shan State Progressive Party, has submitted a resignation letter to the council, with the ethnic armed group on Sunday revealing its plans to leave the coalition.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
DPN and govt agree on principles that would pave the way towards a nationwide ceasefire agreement and kick-starting the peace process.
Bullet Points Ethnic issues Kachin Lead Story Video
Follow DVB as we visit Kachin State some six years into the conflict there, which has displaced more than 100,000 civilians.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Amid decades of civil conflict in Burma that has most-acutely impacted the country’s ethnic minorities, the rights of indigenous people are still being violated, said Naw Ei Ei Min, an executive member of the Myanmar Indigenous Peoples/Ethnic Nationalities Network.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics
Burma’s Union Election Commission has allowed the registration of the Arakan League for Democracy, re-establishing a political party that was a formidable competitor in national polls 27 years ago but may further fracture ethnic Arakanese political solidarity in future votes.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News
Ethnic rebels refute allegations, and say the Burmese military is “spreading lies”. KIA spokesman says the campaign is a veiled threat against the local population.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
The dwindling alliance of ethnic armed groups joined under the United Nationalities Federal Council banner convenes a conference in Thailand chaired by a leader of one of its former members, the influential Kachin Independence Army.
Ethnic issues Lead Story Military News
“Out of each three boys, they had to draw lots to determine which one would have to join the militia.”
Analysis Ethnic issues Lead Story Opinion Peace Process
The second session of the 21st Century Panglong Conference made substantial progress that offers a beacon of hope for sustainable peace in Burma, but key hurdles remain.
Conflict Ethnic issues Lead Story News Shan
A spokesman for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army says his people are ready to hold talks aimed at ending their ongoing conflict with the Restoration Council of Shan State.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Peace Process
A negotiating committee representing seven ethnic armed groups in northern Burma says it intends to attend next week’s Union Peace Conference in Naypyidaw, which is being organised by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
