Burma Campaign UK
Today marks ten years since agents of the military dictatorship in Burma assassinated our father, General Secretary of the Karen National Union, Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan. We miss him every day, not just as a father, but also for his political guidance he gave to us, to the Karen nation, and to people of …
Burma Campaign UK today called on the Department for International Development (DFID), to step in and provide emergency funding to 9,000 people at risk from cuts in aid. International donors have cut aid to 9,000 displaced villagers from Shan and Karen States. They fled their farms and villages following attacks by the Burmese Army, and …
Burma Campaign UK today condemned the governments of Germany and Austria for inviting Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Burmese military, to visit their countries this week. Earlier this year, the United Nations reported how Min Aung Hlaing’s soldiers had raped ethnic Rohingya women, shot civilians and burned villages. They said these violations could be …
On this 2015 World Refugee Day, we stand in solidarity with the over 110,000 refugees who fled Burma to seek protection in the nine camps along the Thailand-Burma border, embodying the years of conflict and the struggle for democracy. We call on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Burma Government, the international …
Media Release from Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) The Karen Women’s Organization has successfully completed a lobbying trip to the United Kingdom between 23-28 February 2015, to raise issues of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as the political situation in Karen areas and women in Burma. Naw Ta Mla Saw, Joint Secretary 1 …
A delegation of refugees from Thailand-Burma border is visiting the UK this week, for a lobbying trip focusing on the situation of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) along the Thai-Burma border, and the need for more humanitarian assistance. The delegation spoke in Parliament at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in …
Statement by Karen Community Based Organizations Welcoming the Release By The International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School of, “War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar” It’s Time For Justice The Karen people have suffered decades of abuse at the hands of the various forms of the Burmese dictatorship and Burmese military. …
Burma Campaign UK today published a new briefing paper, Recent Reports On Burma, which summarises key points from some of the most recent reports on Burma. In early November 2014 President Obama visited Burma for the second time. His visit helped to focus attention on the fact that Burma’s reform process has not only stalled, …
Burma Signing Sexual Violence Declaration Should Not Just Be PR Exercise Burma Campaign UK today called on the government of Burma to immediately publish what concrete actions it will take, within a specific timeframe, to actually implement the ‘Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict’, which it has finally signed. Under President Thein …
Members of the European Burma Network are deeply concerned that refugees from Burma living in camps in Thailand are being pressured to return to Burma prematurely because of cuts in aid. The international community, and in particular the European Union, is pursuing policies which could in effect force refugees from Burma back into the country …
Press Release from Shan Human Rights Foundation A villager distributing invitations to his son’s ordination ceremony was beaten, stabbed and robbed by Burma Army troops of LIB 515 in Tang Yan Township, northern Shan State on 23rd March 2014. On that day, Sai Sarng, age 46, from Murng Kao, Tang Yan township, had gone to …
Members and observers of the European Burma Network call upon the government of Burma, the United Nations Population Fund, and international donors, to postpone the upcoming census on Burma. We believe that carrying out the census at the current time will exacerbate ethnic and religious tensions in the country. Carrying out a census can provide …
Press release by Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) on March 14, 2014 on International Rivers Day The Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) urges the Burmese government and companies from neighbouring countries to immediately suspend their plans to build hydropower dams on the Salween and other rivers in Burma. KCSN has learned that there are at …
Press release from Palaung Women’s Organization – PWO PWO strongly condemns the Burma Army for firing shells into the village of Pan Pyat, in Kyaukme township, northern Shan State, on February 27, 2014, killing the village headman and seriously injuring two women. At 10 am on February 27, troops of Burma Army battalion 77, based …
DFID funded Burma census could trigger violence Burma Campaign UK today publishes a new Briefing Paper, ‘Burma’s Census – Not Worth Dying For’, calling for the upcoming census in Burma to be postponed. The Briefing is available here. Burma is due to hold its first census in 30 years from 30th March to 10th April. …
Aung San Suu Kyi and EU Parliament urged to place human rights, anti-Muslim violence at the top of the agenda of European visit BANGKOK – Legislators from across Southeast Asia today called on Aung San Suu Kyi and European Parliamentarians and leaders to use the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader’s visit to Europe …
133 Ethnic Civil Society Organizations Express Concern and Reservation Regarding Foreign Military Engagement with the Burmese Military Today, October 17, 2013, 133 civil society organizations, representing 15 of Burma’s ethnic nationalities, submitted a joint letter to President Barack Obama of the United States, Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, and Prime Minister Tony …
Media Release from Karen Community Association UK Cameron Should Demand Thein Sein Withdraw Soldiers From Ethnic States Human rights training for Burmese Army won’t work The Karen Community Association UK (KCA UK) today calls on Prime Minister David Cameron to press President Thein Sein to withdraw his soldiers from ethnic states to demonstrate he is …
Today Burma’s President, former General Thein Sein, is making his first visit to London. He will be meeting Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague. To coincide with the visit, Burma Campaign UK is releasing a new briefing paper on Thein Sein. The briefing highlights his decades-long involvement in human rights abuses in …
Media release from the Shan Human Rights Foundation During attacks last week violating the ceasefire with the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), the Burma Army shelled a Buddhist temple in central Shan State, displacing dozens of monks, and turned the temple into a military base. On June 23, after sending in reconnaissance planes, over 100 troops …
Statement by 33 organisations Burma Non-compliant in Implementing Burma-UN Joint Action Plan on the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers On June 27, 2012, after nearly five years of negotiation, the Burmese government signed a joint action plan with the UN to end the recruitment and use of children as soldiers in the Tatmadaw Kyi …
Burma Campaign UK today welcomed a statement by Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi, that ‘independent investigative work’ is required ‘for an informed assessment as to whether ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity have been committed.’ However, words need to be turned into action or they will simply amount to yet more platitudes from the British …
Burma Campaign UK is deeply concerned that G8 Foreign Ministers meeting today appear to be prioritising trade opportunities with Burma, rather than ending rape and sexual violence committed by Burmese government forces. The Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) is top of the agenda for G8 Foreign Ministers. However, Burma is not one of the countries …
Burma Campaign UK welcomes the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution on Burma, passed by consensus on Thursday 21st March. The resolution highlighted serious human rights abuses which could violate international law, including ‘…arbitrary detention, forced displacement, land confiscations, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well …