Karen (cultural, historical, political)

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Description: "The Drum Publication Group was founded in May 1998. The goal of the Drum Publication Group is to promote literature in both Karen and Burmese languages with the overall objectives of developing education for Burmese people wherever they might reside. The Group wishes to establish contact with as many other groups and individuals as possible who are involved in literature and education, and to be involved in all aspects of literacy development and the ensuing work of printing suitable books and teaching aids. As well as translation and typesetting we would like to assist those NGOs involve in education work at all stages. Participation in planning sessions and workshops would be welcomed and would, we feel, increase our capacity to play a useful role in this regard. The Group will promote, through its own practice, transparency and accountability, in all dealings. The Group is not affiliated with any political organization and stands for racial and sexual equality. The Drum Group's focus is on: * Writing and printing educational books. * Producing teaching aids and extra-curricula materials. * Translation of texts, to and from, both Sgaw Karen and Burmese languages - especially those relevant to education. * Establishing a library and documentation centre to preserve valuable books and documents. * Assisting the printing of educational material in Pwo Karen, Shan, Mon and other ethnic languages. A catalogue of our publications is available on this web site. Publications are distributed at cost price, or less, to groups and individuals involved in formal or non-formal education or training. Those ordering large numbers of books as well as overseas institutes are requested to pay the full cost of the order plus postage costs... Downloadable books: * English - Sgaw Karen Student Dictionary (PDF version which can be used off line) * Days Not to be Forgotten : (Sgaw Karen), Karen veterans of WWII share their experiences * Echos from Karen Land: (Sgaw Karen) * Little Authors' Imaginative World: (Sgaw Karen) * * Lilly and Pa Saw Htee's Amazing Earth and the Universe Facts: (Sgaw Karen / English) * Lilly and Pa Saw Htee's Amazing Animal Facts: (Sgaw Karen / English) * Ethnic Folktakes of Burma : (Sgaw Karen) * Hta for Children : (Sgaw Karen) * A Holiday I Will Never Forget (a choose your our adventure story) : (Sgaw Karen) * Brain Sharpeners : math puzzles (Sgaw Karen) * Traditional Karen Dress : (Sgaw Karen) Drum's quarterly fun newsletter for kids! * * Drum Kids Newsletter, July 2006:(Sgaw Karen) * Drum Kids Newsletter, April 2006:(Sgaw Karen) * Drum Kids Newsletter, Jan. 2006:(Sgaw Karen) * Drum Kids Newsletter, Oct. 2005:(Sgaw Karen)
Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
Date of entry/update: 2006-09-04
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Sgaw Karen, Burmese
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Description: Full books and short stories, some translated from English or Burmese.
Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Format : pdf
Size: 160.96 KB
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Description: "Friends of the Karen People - Mission Statement * We provide scholarships to prospective students from Burma regardless of their ethnic origin. * We prepare students to able to integrate into the international education system. * We aim to upgrade the education system in the ethnic regions of Burma. * We help maintain the culture and literature of the different ethnic nationalities of Burma. * We publish materials about the struggle of the ethnic nationalities of Burma. Friends of the Karen People - Objective * To document the culture and daily life of the Karen People who are in refugee camps and who are internally displaced. * To inform the world about the plight of the ethnic nationalities. * To bring a new generation of leaders to Burma. * To help people to survive and bring peace to the region. Brief recent history of Burma The Burmese military dictatorship took over power on March 2, 1962 and has been introducing ethnic cleansing since. There are more than a hundred ethnic groups in Burma who are gradually becoming extinct. Ethnic nationalities of Burma are forbidden to study their languages and practice their religious beliefs. Their cultures are disappearing and they no longer know how to speak or write their own languages. Their land is being taken away from them. They become internally displaced. They are relocated to places where there is no way to make their living. They have to work as slaves for the military. They are used to clear land mines and carry military equipment as porters. They suffer all kinds of abuse and oppression. Husbands and sons are killed, wives and daughters are raped. Children and infants are burned alive. The ethnic nationalities have become internal colonies. They are oppressed by the military dictatorship of Burma and are trapped in the nest of a heartless monster. The Karen people and all the other ethnic nationalities have fought to defend themselves for over 50 years to survive ethnic cleansing."
Source/publisher: Friends of the Karen People
Date of entry/update: 2005-11-01
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The purpose of the Karen Emergency Relief Fund Inc. is to provide humanitarian assistance, including food, shelter, medical and health supplies, and to provide educational and self-help projects for the Karen people. The Relief Fund recognizes that the Karens are an indigenous, ethnic minority group of about 11 million people who have lived in the mountainous region along the border of Burma and Thailand for many centuries. Due to the ongoing strife in Burma, it is estimated that there are more than 300,000 displaced Karens who have fled into the jungle and are living in huts and makeshift camps in the border area. Those who have escaped into Thailand have not been given official refugee status, consequently they receive no direct assistance from the United Nations or from the Red Cross. Alongside impoverished Karen organizations the Karen Emergency Relief Fund maintains an office in Mae Sot, Thailand. In 2000 K.E.R.F established a therapy program for the victims of rape and torture which is directed by a skilled and innovative psychotherapist. No other agency was addressing the consequences of these widespread and vicious crimes. The Karen Emergency Relief Fund Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a non-profit, tax deductible organization, and has no paid employees. All funds raised are distributed to the Karens or to organizations acting on their behalf. The Board of Directors of the Karen Emergency Relief Fund Inc. is comprised of physicians, clergypersons and business professionals from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The organization was created on July 20, 1997. "
Source/publisher: Karen Emergency Relief Fund
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Large site, many dead or obsolete links...... "The Karen Women?s Organisation was formed in 1949 and has a membership of over 49,000 women. KWO is a community-based organisation of Karen women working in development and relief in the refugee camps on the Thai border and with IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and women inside Burma. Since our formation in 1949 we have expanded our focus from one of purely social welfare to try to encourage an awareness of Women?s Rights and to promote women?s participation in the community decision making and political processes......The objectives of the KWO" * To assist women in the endeavour to be free from all forms of oppression. * To promote and empower women in all spheres of life, including education and general living standards. * To encourage women to participate in the struggle for freedom, democracy and equality. * To develop women?s knowledge, ability and skills, including political and organisational skills. * To achieve the rights of women and equal status with men. * To promote and maintain Karen culture and traditions. * To improve the well being of women and children and to increase their access to adequate health, education and welfare service..... KWO aims to empower women through offering various capacity building trainings to teach skills, build confidence and create new opportunities so that women will be better able to solve problems. We are working hard to educate ourselves and our communities so that we can work more effectively and advocate for our struggle on the international stage... We believe that women?s contribution is an essential factor in the peace-building and national reconciliation processes of Burma."
Source/publisher: Karen Women Organization
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Welcome to the Museum of Karen History and Culture dedicated to researching, preserving, and promoting the history and culture of the ethnic Karens of Burma. The Karens, now totalling over five million people, were one of, if not, the first inhabitants of what is now Burma. Throughout the centuries that followed they were constantly oppressed by the Burman rulers who took over the country. Now, the military government seeks to destroy the individual identity of the Karen people. History and language is being lost as the State Peace and Development Council bans all schools in Karen State from teaching their own language and history. The Karen History and Culture Preservation Society is a non-profit, non-political organisation, formed in 2001 to help preserve and promote the history and culture of a unique people. This electronic museum is only the beginning and is by no means complete, all people who can contribute are welcome (please see the KHCPS section for details) and any feedback you wish to give please do. We dedicate this museum to all of the Karen people who continue to suffer under insurmountable odds" SOME PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO ACCESS THE MUSEUM WITHOUT DIFFICULTY. OTHERS CANNOT SEE THE UPPER NAVIGATION BAR. PLEASE CONTACT [email protected] IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS.
Source/publisher: Karen History and Culture Preservation Society
2004-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-01-31
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 4.86 KB
Local URL: HTML icon index.htm
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Description: A number of Pwo and Sgaw Karen fonts...Open in a new page and unzip the files (that?s the only way I can access the files using Firefox) -- other browsers may work differently - Librarian)
Creator/author: KHCPS
Source/publisher: KHCPS
Date of entry/update: 2006-03-05
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Format : zip
Size: 468.84 KB
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Description: Touristy site
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "These are Burma?s voices for change, extraordinary stories of people of Burma from all walks of life. Their experiences, struggles, fears, and successes. These are unheard stories of incredible spirit of resilience and courage, voices of hope and dreams that have emerged from decades of oppression. Help us spread these voices across the globe!"...Stories and voices from Karen, Karenni, Shan, Kachin, Chin, Rakhine, Mon, Palaung, Pa-O, Nagas and other ethnic minorities.
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-14
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Various documents in German and/or English on the Karen and other groups in Thailand and Burma, including "Change and identity in Pwo Karen communities in Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, a 'Global Heritage' in Western Thailand".
Creator/author: Reiner Buergin
Source/publisher: Institute for Ethnology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Deutsch, German, English
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Description: "၁။ ယနေ့တွင်ကျရောက်သည့် (၇၅) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အမျိုးသားနေ့တွင် ကရင်လူမျိုးအားလုံး ကိုယ်စိတ်နှစ်ဖြာ ကျန်းမာရွှင်လန်းပါစေကြောင်း ဆုတောင်းမေတ္တာပို့သအပ်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ၁၉၄၈ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် မြန်မာပြည်အနှံ့ရှိ ကရင်အမျိုးသားများအားလုံး စုစည်းညီညွတ်စွာဖြင့် ကရင်ပြည်ရရှိရေး၊ အမျိုးသားတန်းတူရေး၊ လူမျိုးရေးပဋိပက္ခများ ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေးနှင့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး ဖော်ဆောင်ရန်အတွက် ဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်ခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ အဆိုပါ သမိုင်းဝင် လူထုဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်ခဲ့သည့် နေ့ရက်ကို ကရင်အမျိုးသားနေ့အဖြစ် ၁၉၅၃ ခုနှစ်တွင် ကျင်းပခဲ့သော ကော်သူးလေညီလာခံကြီးတွင် အသိအမှတ်ပြုခဲ့ပါသည်။ ဤသို့ဖြင့် ကရင်အမျိုးသားနေ့အား ဂုဏ်ပြုကျင်းပလာခဲ့သည်မှာ စိန်ရတုအထိမ်းအမှတ်သို့ပင် ရောက်ရှိလာပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၃။ လွန်လေပြီးသော နှစ်ပေါင်း (၇၅)နှစ်အတွင်း ကရင်အမျိုးသားများသည် ပြည်တွင်းစစ်၏ အနိဌာရုံများကို အလူးအလဲခံစားခဲ့ကြရပါသည်။ သို့သော်လည်း ကေအဲန်ယူ-ကရင်အမျိုးသား အစည်း အရုံး၏ ဦးဆောင်မှုဖြင့် ကရင်အမျိုးသားများ၏ နိုင်ငံရေးမျှော်မှန်းချက်အတွက်သာမက ပြည်‌ထောင် စုမြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေးအတွက် မဆုတ်မနစ် ကြိုးပမ်းလျက်ရှိနေပါသည်။ ကရင်အမျိုးသားများ၏ ပေးဆပ်မှုနှင့် ကြိုးပမ်းမှုအပေါင်းကို ထပ်တူခံစားပြီး များစွာ လေးစားအသိအမှတ်ပြုပါကြောင်း အမျိုးသားညီညွတ် ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် ဖော်ပြလိုပါသည်။ ၄။ ယခုနွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင်လည်း ကရင်အမျိုးသားတို့၏ ဦးဆောင်မှု၊ ကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်မှု နှင့် စွန့်လွှတ်အနစ်နာခံမှု အားလုံးကို ပြည်ထောင်စုတဝှမ်းလုံးရှိ တိုင်းရင်းသား ပြည်သူလူထု အပေါင်းမှ မျက်ဝါးထင်ထင် တွေ့မြင်သိရှိပြီးဖြစ်ပါသည်။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် ကရင်တော် လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများနှင့် လက်တွဲ၍ နွေ‌ဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကြီး၏ ပန်းတိုင်ဖြစ်သော စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ် အပါအဝင် အာဏာရှင်စနစ်မှန်သမျှ ချုပ်ငြိမ်းရေးနှင့် ဒီမိုကရေစီရေး၊ အမျိုးသားတန်းတူ‌ရေးနှင့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့် အခွင့်အရေးများကို အပြည့်အဝ အာမခံချက်ရှိသော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေးအတွက် အဆုံးတိုင် ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက် သွားမည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၅။ ကရင်အမျိုးသားများအနေဖြင့် ရည်မှန်းချက်ပန်းတိုင် ရောက်ရှိရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေးအတွက် ဆတက်ထမ်းပိုး ပိုမိုစွမ်းဆောင်နိုင်ပါစေကြောင်း အလေး အနက်ဆန္ဒပြုရင်း ဤသဝဏ်လွှာအား ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-02-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 411.17 KB
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Description: "၁။ ယနေ့သည် ကရင်အမျိုးသားများ၏ စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုကို တခဲနက် ထုတ်ဖော်ပြသခဲ့သော သမိုင်းဝင် နေ့ရက်တစ်ရက်ဖြစ်သည်။ ၂။ ၁၉၄၈ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုတဝှမ်း နေထိုင်ကြသော ကရင်ပြည် သူများသည် လွတ်လပ်သော ကရင်ပြည်ရရှိရေး၊ တန်းတူရေးနှင့် တရားမျှတရေး၊ ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး၊ လူမျိုးစုများ အချင်းချင်း ချစ်ကြည်ရေး အစရှိသော ရည်ရွယ်ချက်များဖြင့် လူထုဆန္ဒထုတ်ဖော်ပွဲများကို နိုင်ငံအဝှမ်း ဆင်နွှဲ ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ထိုနေ့သည် ကရင်အမျိုးသားများ၏ နိုင်ငံရေးအသိ နိုးကြားမှု၊ စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုနှင့် ရဲရဲတောက် သတ္တိကို ပြသခဲ့သော နေ့ဖြစ်ပြီး ကရင်ကို ကမ္ဘာကပါ ပိုသိစေခဲ့သည်။ ၄။ အဆိုပါနေ့ကို အစွဲပြု၍ ၁၉၅၃ ခုနှစ် နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၂၃-၂၅ ရက်နေ့များတွင် ဖာပွန်မြို့၌ ကျင်းပသည့် ကော်သူးလေပြည်လုံးဆိုင်ရာ ကွန်ဂရက်မှ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁၁) ရက်နေ့ကို ကရင်အမျိုးသားနေ့အဖြစ် အတည်ပြုသတ်မှတ်ခဲ့ပြီး ယနေ့တိုင် ဂုဏ်ယူစွာဖြင့် ကျင်းပခဲ့ကြသည်။ ၅။ ကရင်ပြည်နယ်နှင့် ကရင်ပြည်သူလူထုသည် နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ နိုင်ငံရေးလှိုင်းတံပိုးကြမ်းများကို ကြံ့ကြံ့ခံ ကျော်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ပြီး အာဏာရှင်အဆက်ဆက်အား ဂုဏ်ရောင်ပြောင်စွာ တွန်းလှန်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ၆။ ယနေ့ တတိုင်းပြည်လုံး ခုံခံတွန်းလှန်ဆင်နွှဲလျက်ရှိသည့် ပြည်သူ့တော်လှန်ရေးကြီးတွင် ဘုံရန်သူတူညီပြီး ဘုံရည်မှန်းချက်ပန်းတိုင်ဖြစ်သည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အမြစ်ဖြတ်ရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုသစ်ကို တည်ဆောက်ရာတွင် အချင်းချင်းညီညွတ်မျှတစွာ၊ ခွင့်လွှတ်ခြင်းကြီးစွာဖြင့် လက်တွဲညီညီ လျှောက်လှမ်းပြီး “တသံတည်းညီ၊တချီတည်းရုန်း” ကြပါစို့ဟု တိုက်တွန်းပြောကြားရင်း ယနေ့ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ် ဖေဖော်ဝါရီလ (၁၁) ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျရောက်သော (၇၅) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အမျိုးသားနေ့သို့ ဤသဝဏ်လွှာအား ဂုဏ်ယူစွာဖြင့် ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Defence - National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-02-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-02-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 170.08 KB
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Description: "၁။ ၁၉၄၉ ခုနှစ်မှ စတင်၍ စစ်အာဏာရှင် အဆက်ဆက်ကို ခုခံတွန်းလှန်ခဲ့သော ကရင့် တော်လှန်ရေးသည် ယနေ့တွင် (၇၄) နှစ်တိုင်တိုင် ပြည့်မြောက်ခဲ့ပြီ ဖြစ်သည်။ ၂။ ကရင်အမျိုးသားပြည်သူလုထုတရပ်လုံး လေးစားဂုဏ်ယူတန်ဖိုးထားရသည့် နေ့ထူးနေ့မြတ် ဖြစ်သည်နှင့် အညီ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရ၊ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန အနေဖြင့် (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင့်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ကို ကရင်အမျိုးသားများနှင့် ထပ်တူ ဂုဏ်ပြုဦိးညွှတ် ကြိုဆိုအပ်ပါသည်။ ၃။ (၇၄) နှစ်တာ ကရင့်တော်လှန်ရေးခရီးအတွင်း ကရင်ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အသက်အိုးအိမ် စည်းစိမ်များကို ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ရင်း အသက်၊ကိုယ်လက်အင်္ဂါ စွန့်လွှတ်ပေးဆပ်ခဲ့ရသည့် ကရင့်အာဇာနည် ခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများ၊ ကရင့်သူရဲကောင်းများနှင့် ကရင်ပြည်သူများကိုလည်း လေးနက်စွာ အောက်မေ့ဦးညွှတ် ဂုဏ်ပြုအပ်ပါသည်။ ၄။ ယနေ့အချိန်အခါသည် ကရင်အမျိုးသားများနှင့်အတူ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး ကြုံတွေ့ခံစားနေရသည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးနှင့် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ဆိုးသွမ်းယုတ်မာသော လုပ်ရပ်များကို ကျော်လွှားနိုင်ရန် တစ်တိုင်းပြည်လုံး အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီအား ဟန်ချက်ညီစွာဖြင့် ရွပ်ရွပ်ချွံချွံ ခုခံတွန်းလှန်နေသော ကာလလည်းဖြစ်သည်။ ၅။ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံး၏ ဘုံရည်မှန်းချက်ပန်းတိုင်ဖြစ်သော စစ်အာဏာရှင် စနစ်ဆိုးကို အပြီးတိုင် ဖြုတ်ချပြီး ကိုယ်ပိုင်အုပ်ချုပ်ခွင့်၊ ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့်၊ တန်းတူရေးနှင့် တရားမျှတမှုတို့ကို အပြည့်အဝ အာမခံသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုကို ထူထောင်နိုင်ရန် အတူတကွ လက်တွဲညီစွာဖြင့် ကြိုးပမ်းအားထုတ်နိုင်လိမ့်မည်ဟု အလေးအနက် ယုံကြည်လျက် (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင့်တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာကို ဂုဏ်ယူစွာဖြင့် ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Defence - National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2023-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 175.49 KB
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Description: "၁။ ယနေ့ကျရောက်သည့်(၇၄)နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အမျိုးသားတော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ အချိန်အခါ သမယတွင် ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများအားလုံးနှင့်တကွ တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံး ဘေး အန္တရာယ်အပေါင်းမှ ကင်းဝေး၍ ကောင်းကျိုးလိုအင်ဆန္ဒများ ပြည့်ဝကြပါစေကြောင်း ဆုတောင်း မေတ္တာ ပို့သအပ်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တိုင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်တို့၏ မတရားမှု၊ ဖိနှိပ်မှု၊ အကြမ်းဖက် လုပ်ရပ် များအား ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများအနေဖြင့် ရဲရဲဝင့်ဝင့် ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြပြီး ယနေ့နွေဦး တော်လှန်ရေး အဆုံးသတ်တိုက်ပွဲတွင်လည်း ကရင်အမျိုးသားခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် ညီနောင် ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားအပေါင်းတို့သည် နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်းမှ တိုင်းရင်းသားညီနောင်များနှင့်အတူ ဖက်စစ် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးအား မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ အမြစ်ပြတ် တိုက်ထုတ်ရာတွင် ရွပ်ရွပ်ချွံချွံ တိုက်ပွဲ ဝင်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ရင်း ကျဆုံးသွားခဲ့ကြသော ကရင် တိုင်းရင်းသားအာဇာနည် သူရဲကောင်းများအား မိမိတို့အနေဖြင့် အစဥ်လေးစား ဂုဏ်ယူလျက် ရှိပါသည်။ ၃။ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးကာလတလျောက်တွင် ရင်ဆိုင်ကြုံတွေ့ကြရသော အခက်အခဲ စိန်ခေါ် မှုများအား ဉာဏ်အမြော်အမြင်ကြီးစွာဖြင့် ကျော်ဖြတ်ကာ မိမိနိုင်ငံနှင့် မိမိလူမျိုးအတွက် လွတ်လပ်၍ တရားမျှတသော ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံသစ်ဆီသို့ တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစု အားလုံး စည်းလုံးညီညွတ်စွာ ရှေ့ဆက်ချီတက်နိုင်ခဲ့ကြသည်မှာ မိမိတို့ပြည်သူလူထု၏ စည်းလုံး ညီညွတ်မှုအင်အားကြောင့်သာဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထိုစည်းလုံးညီညွတ်မှုအင်အားကိုလည်း မည်သည့် အာဏာရှင်ကမျှ သွေးခွဲသပ်လျှိုပြုလုပ်နိုင်မည်မဟုတ်ဘဲ နိုင်ငံတကာကပင် တန်ဖိုးထား လေးစား လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၄။ နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာကြာ ကရင်အမျိုးသား တော်လှန်ရေးခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများ မျှော်လင့် တောင့်တခဲ့ကြသော အရောင်အသွေးစုံလင်သည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံသစ် အမြန်ဆုံး ပေါ်ပေါက်ရေး တူညီသောခံယူချက်သဘောထားများဖြင့် ရှေ့ဆက်လျှောက်လှမ်း၍ မိမိတို့ အားလုံး လက်တွဲကြိုးပမ်းသွားနိုင်စေရန် အလေးအနက် ဆန္ဒပြုလျက် ဤ (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင် အမျိုးသားတော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာ အား ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
2023-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2023-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
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Description: "၁။ ကရင်သက္ကရာဇ် ၂၇၆၂ ခုနှစ် ပြာသိုလဆန်း ၁ ရက်နေ့ ယနေ့တွင် ကျရောက်သည့် ကရင်နှစ်သစ်ကူးနေ့တွင် ကရင်လူမျိုးအားလုံး မင်္ဂလာအပေါင်းနှင့် ပြည့်စုံပါစေကြောင်း ဆုတောင်းမေတ္တာပို့သအပ်ပါသည်။ ၂။နှစ်သစ်ကူးအချိန်အခါသည် နှစ်ဟောင်းတွင် ဖြတ်သန်းခဲ့ရသည့် အတွေ့အကြုံများကို ပြည်လည် ဆင်ခြင်သုံးသပ်ပြီး နှစ်သစ်တွင် သာ၍ကောင်းမွန်သော ကောင်းကျိုးများ ရရှိရန်အတွက် ခွန်အားသစ်များ မွေးဖွားရသည့် အချိန်ကာလဖြစ်ပါသည်။ နှစ်သစ်ကိုကြိုဆိုရင်း ကရင်လူမျိုးတို့၏ သမိုင်းအဆက်ဆက်က ဂုဏ်ဝင့်ထည်စွာဖြင့် လက်ဆင့်ကမ်းလာခဲ့သော စာပေ၊ ဂီတ၊ အနုပညာ၊ စားဖွယ်သောက်ဖွယ် စုံလင်စွာဖြင့် ပွဲလမ်းသဘင်များ ကျင်းပရမည့် အချိန်ကာလလည်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၃။သို့သော်လည်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ဖိနှိပ်ချယ်လှယ်မှုများကြောင့် ကရင်ပြည်သူ မြောက်များစွာသည် ဘေးကင်းလုံခြုံမှုမရှိဘဲ စိုးရွံ့ထိတ်လန့်စိတ်ဖြင့် သော်လည်းကောင်း၊ စစ်ဘေးရှောင်ဘဝဖြင့် သော်လည်းကောင်း ကရင်နှစ်သစ်ကူးနေ့ အချိန်အခါအား ဖြတ်သန်းနေကြရသည်ကို များစွာဝမ်းနည်းကြေကွဲ ရပါသည်။ ၄။အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရသည် ဤပြည်ထောင်စုအတွင်း စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးကြောင့် ဖြစ်တည်ခဲ့သော ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် သံသယများ၊ ပဋိပက္ခများကို အပြီးတိုင်ချုပ်ငြိမ်းပြီး တန်းတူရေးနှင့် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ပြဌာန်းခွင့် အပြည့်အဝရှိသော စည်းလုံးငြိမ်းချမ်းသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီ ပြည်ထောင်စုကြီး တည်ဆောက်ရေးအတွက် ကရင်လူမျိုးများနှင့် အတူတကွအတူတကွ လက်တွဲလျှောက်လှမ်းလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၅။၂၇၆၂ ကရင်နှစ်သစ်တွင် ကရင်လူမျိုးအားလုံး ဝမ်းမြောက်ရွှင်လန်းပြီး ကရင်လူမျိုးတို့၏ ရည်ရွယ်ချက် များကို ဆောင်ကျဉ်းပေးသည့် အောင်မြင်မှုများ ရရှိနိုင်ပါစေကြောင်း ဆုတောင်းမင်္ဂလာ ပို့သအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2022-12-22
Date of entry/update: 2022-12-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "၁။ ကရင်တိုင်းသားတို့အနေဖြင့် ကရင်ပြည်၏ လွတ်လပ်ခွင့်၊ တန်းတူညီမျှခွင့်၊ ကိုယ်ပိုင် ပြဋ္ဌာန်းခွင့်တို့အတွက် တိုက်ပွဲဝင်ခဲ့ကြသည်မှာ နှစ်ပေါင်း ၇၀ ကျော်ပင် ကြာခဲ့ပြီဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ယနေ့သည် ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများ ဖိနှိပ်ခံဘဝမှ လွတ်မြောက်ရေးအတွက် အစဉ်တစိုက် ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့ကြရင်း ကျဆုံး သွားခဲ့ကြသူ စောဘဦးကြီးနှင့်တကွ ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားအာဇာနည်များအားလုံးကို အောက်မေ့ဂုဏ်ပြု သောအားဖြင့် နှစ်စဉ်ကျင်းပမြဲဖြစ်သည့် ၇၂ နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အာဇာနည်နေ့ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားတို့သည် ကိုလိုနီဖက်ဆစ်များကို တော်လှန်ရာတွင်လည်းကောင်း၊ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် စစ်အာဏာရှင်များအား တော်လှန်ရာတွင်လည်းကောင်း အရှုံးပေးသည်၊ လက်လျှော့ သည်ဟူ၍ မရှိဘဲ မားမားမတ်မတ်ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြသူများ ဖြစ်ကြပါသည်။ နှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ဖိနှိပ်လာခဲ့သည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ဆိုးကြီးအား နိုင်ငံတဝှမ်းရှိ ပြည်သူများက တခဲနက် ဆန့်ကျင် တော်လှန်နေကြသည့် ယခုအချိန်မျိုးတွင်လည်း ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားတို့သည် ညီနောင်တိုင်းရင်းသား များနှင့်အတူ လက်တွဲ၍ အသက်နှင့်ခန္ဓာအား ပေးလှူကာ ဆက်လက်တိုက်ပွဲ ဝင်နေကြဆဲပင်ဖြစ်ပါ သည်။ ၃။ ထို့အပြင် ပြည်တွင်းပြည်ပရှိ ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများအနေဖြင့် အကြမ်းဖက် အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်သည့် အလွှာအသီးသီးမှ မိတ်ဖက်နိုင်ငံရေး၊ တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများ အား နွေးထွေးစွာ ကြိုဆိုပြီး ကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ပေးမှုများသည် တော်လှန်ရေးအောင်မြင်ရန်အတွက် ကြီးမားသည့် တွန်းအားတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်ပါကြောင်း ပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံးကိုယ်စား ကျေးဇူးတင်စွာ မှတ်တမ်းတင်အပ်ပါသည်။ စစ်အုပ်စုကအမျိုးမျိုးဖိနှိပ်နေသည့်တိုင် တော်လှန်ရေးကြီး ယနေ့အချိန်ထိ အဓွန့်ရှည်၍ အားကောင်းနေခြင်းမှာ တော်လှန်ရေးအင်အားစုများ၏ ညီညွတ်မှုကြောင့်ပင်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၄။ ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ အနေဖြင့် ဖိနှိပ်သူအာဏာရှင်တို့အား အညံ့မခံဘဲ ဆန့်ကျင်ခဲ့ကြသဖြင့် တော်လှန်ရေးလမ်းခုလတ်တွင် ကျဆုံးခဲ့ကြရသော လူမျိုးစုအသီးသီးမှ အာဇာနည် သူရဲကောင်းအပေါင်းတို့အား ပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံးနှင့်အတူ အလေးပြုပါကြောင်း ယနေ့ကျရောက်သည့် အောက်မေ့ဖွယ်နေ့တွင် ဝမ်းနည်းစွာ ပြောကြားလိုပါသည်။ အာဇာနည်မျိုး သေရိုးမရှိဟူသည့် စကားအတိုင်းပင် ပြည်သူ့အကျိုးကိုရှေးရှုလျက် ခံယူချက်အတွက် အသက်ပေး သွားခဲ့ကြသူ သူရဲကောင်းများ၏ စိတ်ဝိဉာဉ်များမှာ ပြည်သူတို့၏ စိတ်နှလုံးထဲတွင် အစဉ်အမြဲပင် ရှိနေမည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၅။ အာဏာရှင်ကိုဆန့်ကျင်ရင်း ကျဆုံးခဲ့ကြသည့် ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် ရဲဘော်များ၏ နိုင်ငံရေး ရည်မှန်းချက်ဖြစ်သည့် အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အပြီးတိုင်ပပျောက်စေရေးနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားအားလုံး တန်းတူယှဉ်တွဲ နေထိုင်နိုင်မည့် တရားမျှတပြီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်နိုင်ငံတော် တည်ဆောက် ရေးတွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီအနေဖြင့် ဦးလည်မသုန် ကြိုးပမ်းသွားမည် ဖြစ်ကြောင်းကို ယနေ့ကျရောက်သည့် ၇၂ နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အာဇာနည်နေ့ တွင် အခိုင်အမာ ကတိ သစ္စာပြုအပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
2022-08-12
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Description: "(၁) ယနေ့ကျရောက်သော (၇၂) နှစ်မြောက် ကရင်အာဇာနည်နေ့သို့ လေးစားစွာဖြင့် ဦးညွှတ်ဂုဏ်ပြုအပ်ပါသည်။ (၂) ကရင်အမျိုးသားများ၏ အမျိုးသားရေးအရ ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံမှုမရှိစေရန်နှင့်နိုင်ငံရေးအရ တန်းတူအခွင့်အ‌ရေး ရရှိရန် ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သည့် ကရင့်အမျိုးသားခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီး စောဘဦးကြီးကျဆုံးခဲ့သည့် သြဂုတ်လ (၁၂)ရက်နေ့ကို ကရင်အာဇာနည်နေ့ဟု သတ်မှတ်ကျင်းပခဲ့ကြသည်။ (၃) ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက်တွင် အမျိုးသားတန်းတူရေးအတွက် ကိုယ်ကျိုးစွန့်ကာ အသက်ပေးတာဝန်ထမ်းဆောင် ခဲ့ကြသည့် ကရင့်အာဇာနည်များကို ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်‌ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက အသိအမှတ်ပြုအပ်ပါသည်။ (၄) ယနေ့မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်တွင် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ကြောင့် ပြည်သူများခါးစည်းခံနေရသည့် ဒုက္ခများ ပြေလည် စေရန် ကရင်အမျိုးသားများနှင့်လက်တွဲညီညီဖြေရှင်းသွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း ကတိပြုရင်း ဤ သဝဏ်လွှာကို တော်လှန်ရေးစိတ်ဓာတ်ဖြင့် ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Defence - National Unity Government of Myanmar
2022-08-12
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 163.18 KB
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Description: "Today, our Karen brothers and sisters around the world mark the lunar new year of 2761. In a different year this would be a time for celebration with songs and dances, sticky rice, displays of sports, and most importantly, gatherings of the communities in a spirit of brotherhood and love to hope for a prosperous future. This year, however, there has been no time to set up community events in many places. No time to rehearse songs or dances, nor time to prepare traditional foods and clear sporting grounds. Throughout Karen State, the vibrant sights and sounds of celebrations have been muffled while the Karen people stand by to defend themselves against the junta’s relentless attacks. The Karen have faced persecution for years, for decades at the hands of a genocidal military. Their struggle for peace, freedom, and prosperity has in many ways borne the torch for the many different Myanmar groups and identities who have risen up against the brutal and abusive military either before the coup or since it. All people of Myanmar owe a great debt to the heroes and martyrs of the Karen, and their continued efforts to push back the junta, and deny the military their dream of a totalitarian dictatorship is an inspiration to all our brave brothers and sisters around the nation fighting for justice and victory. We hope and pray that in this new year, our Karen brothers and sisters and indeed ALL the people of Myanmar will, for the first time in our history, truly know the peace, prosperity, and freedom of federal, self-determining democracy. May God bless you all!..."
Source/publisher: Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
2022-01-02
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
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Description: "၁။ ယနေ့ ၂၀၂၂ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇန်နဝါရီလ ၂ ရက်နေ့သည် ၂၇၆၁ ခုနှစ် ကရင်အမျိုးသားနှစ်သစ်ကူး နေ့ ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ယနေ့ကျရောက်သည့် ကရင်အမျိုးသားနှစ်သစ်ကူး အချိန်အခါသမယတွင် ကရင် တိုင်းရင်းသားများနှင့်တကွ နိုင်ငံသူ၊ နိုင်ငံသားအားလုံး ကျက်သရေ မင်္ဂလာအဖြာဖြာနှင့် ပြည့်စုံပါစေကြောင်းနှင့် ကပ်ကြီး (၃)ပါးမှ အမြန်ဆုံး ကင်းလွတ်ကြပါစေကြောင်း ဆုတောင်းမေတ္တာပို့သ အပ်ပါသည်။ ချစ်ခင်လေးစားအပ်ပါသော ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများ ခင်ဗျား- ၂။ ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများသည် ကိုယ်ပိုင်ဘာသာစကား၊ စာပေ၊ ယဉ်ကျေးမှုနှင့် ဓလေ့ ထုံးတမ်းစသည့် အမျိုးသားလက္ခဏာများဖြင့် ကြီးမြတ်သော လူမျိုးများဖြစ်ပြီး မြန်မာ့နိုင်ငံရေး ဖြစ်စဥ်သမိုင်းများတွင် ကရင်ခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် ကရင်လူမျိုးများ၏ ရဲရင့်မှုနှင့် အခန်းကဏ္ဍသည် မည်မျှအရေးပါကြောင်း ဖော်ပြလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၃။ ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများသည် သမိုင်းအစဉ်အဆက် တန်းတူအခွင့်အရေးများအတွက် ဖိနှိပ်မှုများနှင့် မတရားမှုများကို တွန်းလှန်ဆန့်ကျင်ခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ ယခုအချိန်၌ မင်းအောင်လှိုင် ခေါင်းဆောင်သည့် စစ်တပ်က နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အာဏာကို လုယူခဲ့ပြီး နိုင်ငံတစ်ဝှမ်း၌ လူမဆန်သော အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ရပ်များဖြင့် ဖိနှိပ်ချုပ်ချယ်နေခြင်းကို ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်နေသည့် မြန်မာ့နွေဦး တော်လှန်ရေးတွင်လည်း ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားတို့၏ ကူညီပံ့ပိုးမှုများနှင့် ပါဝင်ကြိုးပမ်းမှုများသည် တန်ဖိုးကြီးမားသော အင်အားတစ်ရပ် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၄။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ ပြည်တွင်းငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးနှင့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေးတို့အတွက် တိုင်းရင်းသား အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအပါအဝင် သက်ဆိုင်သူအားလုံးက ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့သော်လည်း ၎င်းတို့ အာဏာတည်မြဲရေးအတွက် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်အုပ်စုမှ တိုင်းပြည်နှင့် လူမျိုးတို့၏ အနာဂတ်များကို ဖျက်ဆီးခဲ့ပြီး ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ထို့ပြင် ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသားများအပါအဝင် ပြည်သူလူထုသည် ဥပဒေမဲ့ ဖမ်းဆီးခံရခြင်း၊ အကြမ်းဖက်ဖမ်းဆီးသတ်ဖြတ်ခံရခြင်း၊ နေအိမ်များနှင့် ပိုင်ဆိုင်မှုများ မီးရှို့ဖျက် ဆီးခံရခြင်းနှင့် နေရပ်စွန့်၍ စစ်ဘေးလွတ်ရာများသို့ ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေရခြင်းတို့ တွေ့ကြုံ ခံစားနေရသည့်အတွက် များစွာစိတ်မကောင်းဖြစ်ရပါသည်။ ချစ်ခင်လေးစားအပ်ပါသော ကရင်တိုင်းရင်းသား ညီအစ်ကိုမောင်နှမများ ခင်ဗျား- ၅။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ ထာဝရငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးရရှိပြီး ကမ္ဘာ့အလယ်၌ ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်သော နိုင်ငံတစ် နိုင်ငံအဖြစ် ရပ်တည်နိုင်ရေး လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များ၊ တိုင်းရင်းသားအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးပါတီများ က သဘောထားကြီးစွာ ဆွေးနွေးညှိနှိုင်းပြီး နိုင်ငံရေးပြဿနာများကို နိုင်ငံရေးနည်းလမ်းဖြင့် ဝိုင်းဝန်း အဖြေရှာရန် ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ သို့သော် စစ်အာဏာရှင်များသည် ၎င်းတို့ အာဏာတည်မြဲရေး အတွက် ကြိုးပမ်းတည်ဆောက်ခဲ့သည့် ရလဒ်ကောင်းများကို လက်နက်အားကိုးဖြင့် အကြိမ်ကြိမ် ဖျက်ဆီးရန် ကြိုးပမ်းနေခြင်းကြောင့် မြန်မာ့မြေပေါ်မှ စစ်အာဏာရှင်များကို အပြီးတိုင် ပပျောက်ရေး တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံးက လက်တွဲညီညီ တွန်းလှန်တိုက်ထုတ်ရမည် ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၆။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း၌ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အပြီးတိုင်ကျဆုံးပြီး ဖက်ဒရယ် ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံတော်သစ် တည်ဆောက်နိုင်ရေးအတွက် ခိုင်မာသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စု စိတ်ဓာတ်၊ စစ်မှန်သည့် တိုင်းချစ်ပြည်ချစ်စိတ်ဓာတ်တို့ဖြင့် သွေးစည်းညီညွတ်စွာ လက်တွဲ၍ ဝိုင်းဝန်းကူညီ ကြိုးပမ်းဆောင်ရွက်ကြရန် တိုက်တွန်းနှိုးဆော်လျက် ဤကရင်အမျိုးသားလုံးဆိုင်ရာ နှစ်သစ်ကူး နေ့ သဝဏ်လွှာအား ပေးပို့အပ်ပါသည်။..."
Source/publisher: Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
2022-01-02
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-02
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Description: "David Eubank, who is originally from Texas, lives in the jungles of the Karen state near the Thai-Myanmar border, along with his wife and children. The Karen people have been fighting the Myanmar military for decades, in the world’s longest civil war. Since the military coup on 1 February, the Karen Nation Union has sided with a people’s uprising demanding democracy is restored, and has launched attacks on the military. The army has responded with bombings that have displaced tens of thousands of people. David has seen first-hand what has happened. Hundreds of young protesters have fled to ethnic areas, including into the area David is working in. His group, The Free Burma Rangers, has provided survival and medical training to some of these young people who want to continue fighting to restore democracy. He is also part of an underground railway helping to smuggle out politicians, artists and activists who are on the military’s wanted list. David takes us on a mission through the jungle to get aid to civilians caught up in the conflict..."
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Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
2021-10-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Successive Myanmar governments have attempted to consolidate power by gaining control over various states and people. Their efforts have resulted in entrenched, ongoing conflicts between the Burmese military and other ethnic armed organisations, such as the Karen National Union (KNU). Consequently, many ethnic armed group members and displaced people have fled to Thailand to seek refuge from armed conflict. More than forty refugee camps were set up along the Thai-Myanmar border in the late 1980s and 1990s (Kasetsisi 2001; Trichote 2004; Vaddhanaphuti and Sitthikriengkrai 2016). At first, Thai authorities provided some humanitarian support for refugees, and provided them with temporary asylum. But, as the Myanmar military periodically attacked these camps, in the late 1990s, Thai authorities consolidated the refugees into bigger camps to facilitate control over them. Now assistance is provided to refugees in only nine refugee camps in four border provinces: Tak, Mae Hong Son, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi. Currently, there are more than ninety thousand refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border, most of whom are Karen. Many have now been refugees for more than three decades. Since 2011, global attention on these camps has faded, and the future of these refugees is uncertain. In order to provide safe, viable options for displaced people on the Thai-Myanmar border, humanitarian organisations must consider the voices and perspectives of refugees. This issue is close to my heart as I am a Karen who grew up near the Thai-Myanmar border. I have been working with refugees for almost three years with Partners Relief and Development Foundation based in Mae Sot, Tak. Refugees are very close to us here in Mae Sot and interaction with refugees is a part of daily life. Whenever I take the bus back to my hometown, I see Karen refugees often. I love to talk, so that is how I got to know many of them. One of my refugee friends worked for the same foundation as me. I became perplexed by how many refugees stayed in the camps, waiting for relocation or improved aid, rather than leaving the camps for repatriation to Myanmar or to pursue other livelihoods. This drove me to pursue my MA in ethnicity and development at Chiang Mai University. My first main goal for studying at the Center for Ethnic Studies and Development was not to push any policy changes for refugees, but to understand them in depth: their problems, their lives, their dreams. It took me several months to understand the structures and the larger forces driving displacement in the area. I realised that in order to create helpful outcomes, international organizations involved in defining durable solutions must listen to the voices of refugees. Refugees, who must live out the rest of their lives in resettlement sites, must at least be given some choice in the matter. Durable solutions? Refugee camps are intended to be temporary, but refugees themselves need long term options, especially as international funding fades. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has offered three “durable solutions” to refugees, including on the Thai-Myanmar, in the hopes of closing the camps: resettlement, local integration, and voluntary repatriation. The first option, resettlement, is raised when refugees are unable to return to their country of origin. Resettlement helps refugees find a more stable life in another country. In 2005, the US government agreed to receive refugees from the Thai-Myanmar border. However, this option was closed in January 2014. Today, there are still some refugees who registered with the US resettlement program who are still waiting for relocation. Some refugees continue waiting with the hope that one day the resettlement program will reopen. The second option, local integration, is where refugees receive help with their language and other skills needed to live a full life in their first country of refuge. However, since Thailand is not a member of the 1951 Refugee Convention, local integration is not realistically possible. Still, some refugees try to integrate individually. They build up relationships between refugees and the local community by sending their children to Thai schools or, in some cases, refugees get married to Thai citizen. The third option is the voluntary repatriation of refugees to their countries of origin. Officially, this is the only available alternative for refugees in Thailand right now. While some refugees in Thailand are concerned about their deteriorating livelihoods in Thailand and do genuinely wish to return to Myanmar, some are in fact forced to “voluntarily” return to Myanmar against their will. Because repatriation to UNHCR would mean going back to a government-controlled area, refugees may reject this option as their homes are in a KNU-controlled area. That makes repatriation to Myanmar very complicated issue and few refugees choose to repatriate with UNHCR. As I will explain, some refugees choose to return to KNU-controlled areas on their own, but this is a challenging path too. During my research I had the opportunity to travel to several villages in the border area and met many refugees who chose to return to KNU-controlled areas of Karen State. Most of them said the reason for their return was the reduction in aid delivered to them through the refugee camps. According to Thai policies, refugees are unable to officially leave the camp. They have to keep quiet, with no legal recourse to request more aid or freer movement. So, when the quality and quantity of funding decreases, it directly affects them. Some of my interviewees pointed out that as a result of funding reductions, they have been unable to receive the four necessities they require, which are clothing, food, housing, and medicine. How refugees themselves think about repatriation Karen refugee Naw Su Poe (a pseudonym) recently decided to return to Myanmar – but not to a government-controlled location. Instead, she chose to go to an area controlled by the KNU. She explained her experience leaving the camp after inviting me to have lunch with her and her family while I was collecting data for my thesis. Naw Su Poe’s bamboo house was very plain and her two daughters sat beside her husband as she talked. She told me that she was originally from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 6 area. Her family first crossed into Thailand because there was a military battle in their village. After spending fifteen years in the refugee camps, there was a marked reduction in food aid delivered through the camp. Naw Su Poe said, “We couldn’t even make a fire for cooking because we couldn’t find bamboo or wood. In our daily lives we were confronted by poverty. We had to hide and sneak out of the camp just to collect basic wood and bamboo. This is why I made the decision to return to Myanmar.” The much older Uncle Tee Wah (a pseudonym) provided further perspective on why repatriating to a KNU area is preferable for some refugees. I met him in Wa Hmee Aye Village (also a pseudonym) in a KNU-controlled village, close to the Thailand border. It was a cloudy day, and I kept watch on the grey, threatening skies as I rode my Dad’s old motorbike there. Along the road, farmers were planting corn seeds and I enjoyed the air rushing past my face, seeing the brown earth landscape uncovering itself like chocolate. When I arrived at Wa Hmee Aye village, I spoke to several people before Uncle Tee Wah. They had chosen to live here, in a KNU area, because they had experienced too much subjugation by the Tatmadaw, even until today. They remained skeptical of authorities and their perspective was: if you fight for your rights and are forced from your own home, would you believe the people who attacked you if they one day said you could return? Myanmar’s politics and circumstances may have appeared to have changed, but would you trust the “new” authorities? Uncle Tee Wah said bluntly: “Myanmar’s administration is attempting to showcase its willingness to receive refugees but we can’t put our faith in them.” He used the analogy of, “hanging the goat’s head, but selling the pork meat”. This refers to someone putting a goat head above their market stall, implying they are selling expensive goat meat, although they are actually selling cheap, half-price pork meat at a goat price to customers. Uncle Tee Wah also decided to move to Wa Hmee Aye Village out of a desire not to “waste” the remaining time in his life. He said that because he was getting older and did not have much time left, he refused to believe the people who had wounded him and caused his life so much misery. Engaging with the Myanmar authorities was a complete waste of time. “It’s also preferable to come to this area rather than in a refugee camp, which is not ideal. The situation is pretty terrible there since, in addition to the decreased aid, you can’t find work. I am getting older and when I get sick, I will be pushed to the bottom of the priority list for work,” Uncle Tee Wah said. The experiences of Uncle Tee Wah show how trauma and unforgettable memories can reinforce refugee ambivalence. If you look at the current situation in Myanmar after the 1 February military coup, there is still considerable fighting between ethnic armed groups such as the Karen National Liberation Army and the Tatmadaw. This begs the question: “Can these refugees really go home now?” The top-down durable solutions that the UNHCR and Thai authorities have promoted since the humanitarian crisis began on the Thailand-Myanmar border require revision. They will continue to directly affect refugee lives in the future. Before all the authorities make their decisions, they must include refugee voices and ideas in order to create real durable solutions for them. References Kasetsiri, C. (2001). Burma: History and Politics. The Foundation for the Promotion of Social Sciences and Humanities Textbooks Projects. Trichote, P. (2004). The Policy of Burma Repatriation from Thailand Research Project. Institute of Asian Studies. Chulalongkorn University. Vaddhanaphuti, C. & Sitthikriengkrai, M. (2016). The Alternative of Policy to Solving the problem of refugees in temporary shelters. National Human Rights Commission of Thailand..."
Source/publisher: Tea Circle (Myanmar)
2021-09-08
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "To mark the 36th anniversary of KWO-Day, KWO addressed a formal letter to all KWO members and Karen people around the world. KWO call for unity, for us to continue to work together for our organization and nation – and to keep persevering in our work until we have achieved justice and equality for all..."
Source/publisher: Karen Women's Organization
2021-04-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Today marks the 74th KNDO day. KWO sends our best wishes to all KNDO soldiers. We encourage all our Karen people to be happy and healthy and to be hopeful, despite the daily challenges we face. The enemy never sleeps. They look for ways to destroy the Karen people, but if we are strong and aware and work together, we will reach our freedom through encouragement and determination..."
Source/publisher: Karen Women's Organization
2021-07-16
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "We, KWO, send our best wishes to you all on June 14th which marks the day our founding father, President Saw Ba U Gyi, formed the KawThoo Lei government and announced to the world.Kaw Thoo Lei day was formed on 14th June 1949. We, the Karen people, fight for peace, freedom and equality. We formed our Karen revolution to protect our people and our land from any bad events to come. Our wishes for peace have still not been met. The Burmese soldiers still violate our human rights and threaten our livelihoods with weapons and airstrikes. Now there are many IDPs in our Karen State and all around Burma. KWO would like all our Karen people around the world to work together as we can for our Karen people to escape from bad things and to achieve our freedom. We will continue to do our best to achieve our goals..."
Source/publisher: Karen Women's Organization
2021-06-14
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "လက်ရှိမြန်မာပြည်အတွင်း တပ်မတော်မှအဓမ္မစစ်အာဏာသိမ်းခြင်းအပေါ် KNU Concerned Group မှ သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်"
Source/publisher: KNU Concerned Group
2021-02-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "KWO sends our best wishes to all in the Karen Army and to all Karen around the world on July 5th which marks the day of the 72nd Karen National Liberation Army day. We may have different ideas and thoughts but we have the same goal to have our rights and freedoms and to decide our own political destiny. KWO calls for all Karen people to work together so we can understand each other peacefully, and to support our KNLA until we archive our goal. Peace means strength for our Karen people in this situation to overcome the enemy..."
Source/publisher: Karen Women's Organization
2021-07-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "1. On February 1, 2021, the Tatmadaw (Burman military) issued Order Number (1/2021), the promulgation of seizure by it. We, the KNU Concerned Group, strongly protest and denounce Tatmadaw's seizure of power, because according to the promulgation letter, it was the seizure of the political power from the NLD, the winning party of the general election held on November 8, 2020. 2. Though the NLD Party did not accept the 2008 Constitution, the NLD had contested in elections with a positive outlook starting from 2012. It won a landslide victory in 2015 general election and though it made the effort to amend the Constitution within the parliament, there was no success. On the other hand, the Ethnic Armed Revolutionary Organizations (EARO) tried to amend the Constitution on the basis of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), without success. Accordingly, it is entirely evident that the 2008 Constitution cannot be amended either in the parliament or on the basis of the NCA. 3. Similarly, the KNU Concerned Group do not absolutely accept the administrative services set up by Tatmadaw, after the seizure of power. In the Karen revolutionary areas, we will perform, maintain and defend our administration, in accordance with the administrative system laid down by the KNU and on the basis of self-determination. 4. For that reason, we earnestly urge: ^ The Karen armed organizations, the DKBA, KNU/KNLA PC, BGF etc., to join up with the KNLA as the Kawthoolei Army, to defend together the Karen people, together with the entire people made up of all the ethnic nationalities; ^ The entire people to unanimously oppose the seizure of power by the Tatmadaw; ^ The international community not to recognize the military government set up by the Tatmadaw. KNU Concerned Group..."
Source/publisher: KNU Concerned Group
2021-02-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 29.2 KB
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Description: "We the KNU Concerned Group sending to you the statement of KNU Concerned Group regarding the CRPH announcement of the National Union Government..."
Source/publisher: KNU Concerned Group
2021-04-17
Date of entry/update: 2021-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 56.33 KB
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Description: "With Myanmar’s military coup now three months old, there are few corners of the Southeast Asian country that haven’t been affected by its aftermath. Hundreds of thousands have revolted against the military’s action nationwide, but the armed forces have responded forcefully by detaining thousands and leaving more than 750 dead, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma. But in recent weeks, with mass street demonstrations waning, the uprising has entered a new phase in old territory, throughout Myanmar’s ethnic minority-held states. In Myanmar’s Karen state, officially Kayin state, conflict isn’t new. Like others, the country’s third-largest ethnic group has endured severe conflict for more than seven decades, largely over ethnically based hostilities. Additionally, fighting against Myanmar’s Tatmadaw armed forces has also been a long battle, but today a resurgent military is forcing the Karen to further defend their territory. A month ago on March 31, according to a report by Singapore broadcaster CNA, the junta, officially the State Administration Council, announced a one-month cease-fire across Myanmar. But according to Dave Eubank, the director of the humanitarian service group Free Burma Rangers, which operates in Myanmar, that promise hasn’t been kept, as attacks from the military have continued. “The Burma army said there’s a cease-fire. There is no cease-fire there,” he told VOA this month. Decades of animosity: The Karen National Union (KNU) is a political organization that says it represents the Karen people, who have their own unique languages, customs and administrative system. Myanmar, then called Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948. Since then, the Karen have been in conflict with the central government over calls for independence and for a federal system to be implemented. Decades of animosity have endured between various ethnic groups, including the Karen, and the Bamar people, also called Burmans, the dominant ethnic group in Myanmar. But with the coup sparking huge anger throughout the country, there are signs that the military could eventually face a united opposition. The head of Foreign Affairs Department for the KNU, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, said it’s been a “dream” for all ethnic states within Myanmar to align, despite their differences, but he acknowledged it’s a complicated situation. “That is the future we dream for several years, but for it to come true, it’s very difficult,” he said. But for now, the spokesperson acknowledged that fighting back against the advancing military was a necessity. “According to our experience, there will be a way to support pressure to the government, the military way, and the political and social … all kinds of ways, with a need to push against the military," he said. "We need to push the military regime to the table for dialogue.” Padoh Saw Taw Nee said there had been more than “200 casualties” among the Karen as a result of “shelling with heavy weapons” from the military. “If you couldn’t tackle this issue very carefully, there will be kind of a civil war. ... There will be a lot of consequences to our country,” he added. Ground attacks within the Karen have been happening since the end of 2020, according to local reports.....Population fearful: Airstrikes and reconnaissance flights are instilling terror into the locals on the ground, inside sources have told VOA. Lieutenant Colonel Saw Kyi Kyaw of the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council told VOA that the organization’s mission was to “make peace” but that it would fight back if necessary. “We will not attack anyone, but if Tatmadaw starts attacking us, we will fight back to defend ourselves,” he said. In recent days, the Karen took control of a military outpost near the Thai-Myanmar border, according to a Reuters report. But when VOA spoke earlier this month to Saw Thuebee of the Karen Peace Support Network, a civil society group supporting vulnerable communities in the region, he said the Karen already were facing a humanitarian crisis because of the thousands of internally displaced people. Saw Thuebee called on Myanmar’s neighbor to help those in need. “We are hoping and requesting [that] the Thailand government launch the materials across the border so that we can continue to provide humanitarian assistance" to internally displaced people, he said.....Widespread hunger: The United Nations said last week that “millions” faced hunger in the country amid the violence. Myanmar was under military rule for most of its modern history until 2011. In last November’s general elections, the military claimed unsubstantiated electoral fraud. On February 1, the military removed the National League for Democracy government. Leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained and have since been additionally charged. The armed forces have been deployed to suppress street protests, while martial law has been imposed across the country. The junta has implemented daily internet shutdowns for the sake of the country’s “stability.”
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "VOA" (Washington, D.C)
2021-05-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Fighting erupted between the Burmese military and a separatist group in the southeast of Myanmar, close to the border with Thailand. The ethnic insurgents, the Karen National Union, captured and destroyed an army post as part of their campaign to reduce the military's presence in Karen state, where thousands of people have been displaced by a resurgence of fighting..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
2021-04-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "...Opium poppy cultivation in Thailand fell from 12,112 hectares in 1961 to 281 hectares in 2015. One outlier exists: Chiang Mai Province’s remote southwestern district, Omkoi. Ninety percent of the district is a national forest reserve where human habitation is illegal. However, an ethnic Karen population has lived there since long before the law that outlawed them was created, unconnected to the state by road, with limited or no access to health, education and other services. Omkoi’s Karen increasingly rely on cash-based markets. Their lack of citizenship precludes them from land tenure that might incentivize them to grow alternative crops, and their statelessness precludes them from services and protections. Nor is the Thai state the singular Leviathan that states are often assumed to be; it is a collection of agencies and networks with divergent interests, of whom one of the most powerful, the Royal Forestry Department, has purposely made Omkoi’s population illegible, and has consistently blocked the attempts of other state actors to complexify Omkoi beyond the simplicity of its forest environment. These factors make the state illegitimate to Omkoi’s Karen just as Omkoi’s Karen are illegitimate to the state, and make the cultivation of short-term, high-yield, high-value, imperishable opium a logical economic choice for poor Karen farmers, especially given the historical lack of law enforcement presence. However, that presence is growing, as Omkoi becomes one of the last areas of Thailand to experience the historical extension of lowland Padi state power into an ungoverned, untallied highland..."
Creator/author:
2018-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : PDF
Size: 313.98 KB
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Description: 8 short stories originally in English circa 1907, translated into S'gaw Karen in 2012.
Creator/author: O'Henry, Shirley Jackson et al.
Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
2012-07-31
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: S'Gaw Karen
Format : pdf
Size: 1.12 MB
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
2007-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 196.29 KB
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
2010-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 1.76 MB
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
2008-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2018-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 238.66 KB
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Description: "This Interview with Naw H--- describes events occurring in Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District, during the period between 2015 and 2017, including information about drugs, gambling, sexual assault and rape, arbitrary killing, education and health..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2018-06-18
Date of entry/update: 2018-06-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Source/publisher: Australian Karen Organisation via "Progressive Voice"
2018-05-11
Date of entry/update: 2018-05-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Burma was a country in great flux during the first half of the twentieth century, being directly or indirectly affected by two World Wars, suffering the occupation of two imperial powers, and rocked by the agitation for— and eventual achievement of— independence in 1948. The post-independence era was no less tumultuous than that which came before, with intense political machinations and the crushing commencement of intractable civil wars, culminating in General Ne Win?s military coup of 1962 and concomitant wider societal changes. Miss Burma, a new novel by Charmaine Craig, faculty member in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, attempts to take the reader deep into this heady world by focusing on the fate and fortunes of one particular family through the years of 1926-1965..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Teacircleoxford
2017-10-02
Date of entry/update: 2018-03-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Tea Circle reviews the first of four panels from a recent Oxford workshop on the Karen... On Thursday, 15th June researchers and practitioners working with Karen communities within the context of the Myanmar?s ongoing democratic transition joined together for a special one-day workshop, ?The Karen in 2017: Resilience, Aspirations and Politics?, convened by the Programme on Modern Burmese Studies (MBS) at St Antony?s College. In a unique collaboration between research fellows and students from the University of Oxford and the Australian National University?s Myanmar Research Centre, the event brought together students, academics and commentators with development practitioners and activists working in a range of fields and interventions in Karen State, Karen refugee and diaspora communities. As Dr Matthew Walton, MBS Director, made clear in his opening address, the workshop set out to take stock of the promise and pace of substantive change and progress for these communities since the signing of a ceasefire between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Myanmar government in January 2012, and the long-awaited accession of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy government in March 2016. Participants were specifically asked to reflect on the adaptive strategies, politics and aspirations of ordinary Karen people and ethnic leaders navigating Myanmar?s often uneven and uncertain transition to peace and democracy over recent years. The workshop was structured around four main themes and panels: (1) Aspirations, Education and Health; (2) Livelihoods and Social Protection; (3) Migration, Conflict and the Borderland; a plenary session considered (4) the Future of Karen in Myanmar/Burma and the Diaspora..."
Source/publisher: teacircleoxford
2017-07-18
Date of entry/update: 2017-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Greg Cathcart and Gerard McCarthy review the second of four panels from a recent Oxford workshop on the Karen. The first post in this series can be found here... The 2012 ceasefire between the Karen National Union (KNU) and Myanmar?s Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) has seen the integration of large parts of southeast Myanmar into broader circuits of trade, capital accumulation and central government administration. Yet these developments have brought at best mixed benefits to local communities in these areas so far. To understand these dynamics, the second panel of ?The Karen in 2017? workshop, ?Livelihoods and Social Protection,? explored issues of ceasefire enterprise and how it intersects with livelihoods, social protection and the peace process in Karen areas of Myanmar (Burma)..."
Creator/author: Greg Cathcart, Gerard McCarthy
Source/publisher: teacircleoxford
2017-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2017-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Justine Chambers reviews the third of four panels from a recent Oxford workshop on the Karen. Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here... As anyone who has spent time researching the lives of Karen people knows, migration has long been a part of their historical imagination and lived experience. According to legends told to me during my fieldwork by the grandmothers and grandfathers of the Kwaegabon Plong Karen region (Hpa-an district), Karen people found themselves in the fertile lands of the Salween basin after being chased south over many centuries by various Chinese rulers. These stories of movement can also be found in the contemporary experience of the Karen, where the Dawna Mountain Range between Thailand and Myanmar has become indented with the footprints of people fleeing conflict and seeking employment. Related experiences were discussed by Father Vinai Boonlue, Alexander Horstmann and Indrė Balčaitė on a panel titled ?Migration, Conflict and the Borderland” at the recent Karen workshop hosted by St Antony?s College, Oxford. In this wide-ranging and insightful discussion, each of these scholars spoke to the many issues associated with Karen migration, but highlighted the importance of community networks and the resilience of Karen people in the face of hardship and suffering..."
Creator/author: Justine Chambers
Source/publisher: teacircleoxford
2017-07-20
Date of entry/update: 2017-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Tea Circle reviews the last of four panels from a recent Oxford workshop on the Karen. Parts 1, 2 and 3 can be found here, here and here..... The fourth panel of ?The Karen in 2017” workshop was a roundtable discussion that sought to pull out some themes from the day?s presentations. Moderated by Matthew Walton, it combined the perspectives of long-time Burma/Myanmar-engaged individuals with those of a newer generation of scholars working in a different socio-political context... Martin Smith, one of the most highly-respected authors on ethnicity and conflict in Myanmar who is affiliated with Prospect Burma and the Transnational Institute, provided an extended historical perspective, based on his decades of work in the country. He wryly noted that the peace process was becoming similar to Myanmar?s protracted conflict in that it was rapidly growing into the most complex in the world. But beyond all of the stakeholders and overlapping mechanisms, one simple question remained: Who had (and has) the support of the people? This is obviously a challenging question in relation to Karen issues, but needs to be answered to ensure that a political ?end game” emerges, as opposed to the indefinite continuation of ?conflict as a way of life.” Benedict Rogers, author and Burma analyst for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, suggested that the question of a political settlement also had to be considered in light of political division within the Karen National Union (KNU). With the flourishing of civil society organisations (CSO), especially after the first round of ceasefires in the 1990s, the demand for inclusion in political discussions had increased significantly. This has not only put pressure on KNU leadership, but also on the democratic forces that are now in power who had been at least partly aligned with ethnic alliances after 1990... Justine Chambers, a PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology, Australian National University, reminded everyone of the significant impacts on the economy of southeast Myanmar that have been partially the result of the 2012 ceasefire: trade flows with Thailand and a transformation in media and communications technology. Picking up on Ben Rogers? point, she said that, although some of the general conflicts seem to be the same as they were thirty years ago, the social landscape is very different today. For example, women?s CSOs might have limited points of access to the formal peace process, but are able to have an impact through other channels... Richard Dolan, a DPhil candidate at the Oxford Department of International Development, highlighted some important political developments, with ongoing discussions about merging the five main Karen political parties, and wondering about how that will affect not only elections, but also the Karen State government?s engagement with the KNU. Another important shift is from what scholar Ashley South has called ?zones of relative autonomy” to what Dolan called ?zones of relative possibility”, where social services are still sometimes organised around religious leaders, but often exist outside the formal patronage of churches and monasteries and also include a broader range of civil society actors and networks. All of this creates a much more variegated landscape with competing power centres..."
Creator/author: Martin Smith, Benedict Rogers, Justine Chambers, Richard Dolan, Matthew Walton
Source/publisher: teacircleoxford
2017-07-21
Date of entry/update: 2017-07-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Translated and introduced by Violet Cho. "Tee Noe was born as M. No Noe in a village called Thavorta, Karen State, Myanmar (Burma) in 1952. After completing year 10 at a state high school in 1974, he worked as a junior clerk at a local government office in Karen State, eastern Myanmar. Later he joined the rebellion as a soldier for the Karen National Liberation Army and as a schoolteacher in Burmese refugee camps along Thai-Burma border. With no formal knowledge of the mechanics of poetry, Tee Noe has become a leading voice of the Karen diaspora. From a young age, Tee Noe was drawn to poetry. He remembers singing a short hta (Karen oral poem) to thank his cousin who gave him a woollen hat as a present when he turned six: ?To school I run when the bell rings, with a woollen hat today I went?..."
Creator/author: Tee Noe (trans. Violet Cho)
Source/publisher: Transnational Literature, Vol.6 No.4
2014-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-05-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 54.5 KB
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Description: "U Than Nyunt is a 57-year-old Karen refugee and the chief of a small rural village on the riverbanks of Moei. He grew up in a village near Belin in Mon State and was chosen to become the village chief during a time when Burmese military was employing Four Cuts policy. U Than Nyunt eventually couldn?t stand the military abuse anymore and fled to the Thailand-Burma border in 2003. He was again appointed the chief and led his villagers to build a thriving new village on the Burmese side of the border. Five years later, armed conflict forced them to abandon the village and flee across the river to Thailand. The villagers were scattered all over the border but U Than Nyunt was determined to bring them back together. He spent a year locating and collecting the villagers, finally able to bring them back to live in the same village. While U Than Nyunt speaks of their village on the Burmese side with great fondness and sorrow of a lost home, he doesn?t want to go back until there is genuine peace in the country."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "U Soe Myint is a 60-year-old Karen refugee who has struggled his whole life just to survive. Amidst deep-seated poverty, armed conflict and Burma Army abuse, U Soe Myint has had everything but an easy life. He had to work in a farm throughout his childhood, frequently hide from Burmese soldiers in the trees and the jungle in his adulthood, and finally flee to Thailand. U Soe Myint walked to Thailand through the jungle, knowing that he might step on a landmine any moment. For nearly 30 years, he was forced to live away from his wife and three children. While U Soe Myint was at last able to reunite with his family in Mae La refugee camp in 2006, his close family members are now scattered around the world, uncertain if they will ever be able to reunite. This is his story."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Shan Lay is a friendly, compassionate and dedicated young man from the Shan State who has sacrificed everything to fight for the freedom of his people. Growing up in the Shan State with a Karen mother, young Shan Lay was always interested in learning more about his Karen roots. But his mother didn?t speak the language and all he was taught at school was that ?Karen were rebels?. Somewhere deep inside, Shan Lay felt that there was more to the story. He witnessed firsthand the brutality of the government forces: Two of Shan Lay?s family members perished in the 8888 uprising, and when Shan Lay was a teenager, the Burmese military confiscated their family farm. Among other villagers, Shan Lay and his three childhood friends were forced out of their homes and left with nothing. A few years later, Shan Lay and his friends became freedom fighters on the Thailand-Burma border. Today, Shan Lay is the only one of them still alive. Despite the heartache, Shan Lay vows to never give up. Not until the country is free."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Noe Myint is a friendly and kind-hearted 46-year-old Karen man who grew up hiding in the jungle from Burmese military until fleeing to Thailand at the age of 12. Son of a soldier, Noe Myint joined the revolution in 1988 and has spent much of his adult life in the battlefield fighting alongside his school friends and his son. Out of his three children, two are still alive, one of them resettled in Australia and one living in Mae La refugee camp waiting to join her brother and other family in Australia. While their children are registered with the UNHCR, Noe Myint and his wife are not, and thus unable to reunite with their family in Australia. Read more to learn about the life of this soldier who has not only fought for revolution for over 20 years but also looked after a number of orphans who had no one else to turn to. Read more to learn about Noe Myint?s experiences with the UNHCR and resettlement, DKBA?s split from the KNU, Burma Army tactics, and refugee camp attacks. Find out why Noe Myint has great hopes for the future of Karen and how the international community can help the Karen and other ethnic people of Burma in their quest for peace and democracy."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Saw Win Kyaw is a 42-year-old Buddhist Karen man who was born and grew up in Hpa-an Township. Taking to the streets in the 8888 uprising, 17-year-old Saw Win Kyaw and thousands of other students were forced to flee to the jungle after the military took over power. Saw Win Kyaw trained as a medic and in 1995, helped to establish a bamboo hut clinic in the war-torn jungles of northern Karen State. He ran the clinic for over a decade, delivering babies in emergency conditions with no experience, amputating more than 150 limbs with extremely limited equipment, and training hundreds of others in an attempt to promote a community-based health system in an area where health services were completely destroyed. From Burmese army attacks to the threat of landmines and malaria, for Saw Win Kyaw and other jungle medics, these are nothing but ?normal conditions?. In 1998, Saw Win Kyaw joined the Back Pack team and soon after became the field-in-charge for Papun area. He is now the director of the organisation and manages over 300 health workers across rural ethnic areas in Burma. In 2012, Saw Win Kyaw received an international award, the Van Heuven Goedhart Award, for his merits as a special health worker. This story depicts his life and experiences in the jungle and beyond. What was it like to perform an amputation for the first time? What were the main challenges and difficulties he and his team faced in the jungle? How did he get to where he is today and what are the current challenges cross-border aid workers are facing in changing Burma? This is his story."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Christine is a 22-year-old Karen refugee who lives in Mae La refugee camp with her husband and young daughter. She has lived there for seven years ?as a prisoner? inside the barbed wire fence, and now teaches in one of the post-ten schools in the camp. In this interview, Christine talks about the desperation and lack of hope in Mae La as uncertainty about the future mounts and refugees feel that they have no control over their own future. She fears that authorities will organise forced repatriation although they ?don?t know where to go? and ?nothing has changed for the poor?. Christine recently completed Burma Link?s AOC (Agents of Change) training and she is eager to have her voice heard. She wants authorities to take action NOW to help refugees like her and her young daughter."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Daw Hla Shin is a 70-year-old Karen woman from Win Tar Pan village in Bilin, Mon State. She grew up amidst Burmese Army abuse that only worsened after she married a Karen soldier. The villagers lived in constant fear of the Burmese soldiers, enduring torture, killings, and burnt homes and belongings. For Daw Hla Shin, things were even worse; the villagers tried to protect her but they were so afraid of the Burmese military that even her own parents refused to live with her, knowing the Burmese soldiers thought she was a spy for the Karen. She couldn?t even live in the village anymore. She had to stay away in the jungle. The villagers knew about that and they tried to protect her but there was not much they could do. Daw Hla Shin had nowhere to go. Having never attended school or had any connection to the outside world, Daw Hla Shin, nor her younger sister, had any idea that there would be any escape or that Thailand even existed. Both sisters lost their first husbands in battle against the Burma Army. What happened to them and where are they now? Read Daw Hla Shin?s story to find out more."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Mahn Robert Ba Zan is a former Karen freedom fighter and an advisor to the Karen Communities of Minnesota. He served in the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) for more than 30 years, following in the footsteps of his father Mahn Ba Zan, the first commander of the Karen National Defence Organisation (KNDO) and a former President of the Karen National Union (KNU). In 2000, Mahn Robert Ba Zan resettled to the United States of America with his family, changing his revolutionary tactics towards raising awareness and educating the Karen and other ethnics. In this interview, Mahn Robert Ba Zan talks about the ceasefire and car permits, ethnic unity, and how the international community can help the Karen in their quest for genuine peace and freedom."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Naw Eh is an incredibly determined 20-year-old Karen woman whose perseverance, motivation and hopeful spirit have taken her far beyond what she ever could have imagined as a child. Growing up as an undocumented migrant under extreme poverty and lack of opportunity, unlike many others in Thailand young Naw Eh had no chance to go to school. Instead, she spent her mornings selling snacks to school children, before starting her daily round of looking after the household and collecting recyclables on the streets. Naw Eh was 12 years old when she finally had the opportunity to go to school. From childhood of labour, desperation and rejection by other children, Naw Eh?s determination has, incredibly, led her to study for an internationally recognised GED diploma on the Thailand-Burma border. This is her account on how education, trying incredibly hard, and never giving up, has changed her life and led her towards light and new opportunities."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
2014-12-15
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Nerdah Bo Mya is a Major General and the Chief of Staff of the Karen National Defence Organization (KNDO), which was founded in 1947 to protect the Karen people and territory, and is under its mother organisation Karen National Union (KNU). Nerdah Bo Mya, 48, was born near Manerplaw—the former headquarters of the KNU as well as other ethnic nationalities and the pro?democracy movement—as the son of the late General Bo Mya who was the President of the KNU from 1976 to 2000. After being educated in Thailand and in the US, where Nerdah Bo Mya spent six years studying a Liberal Arts degree at a university in California, the young graduate turned away from a future in the US and soon returned to the Thailand-Burma border. For over 20 years, he has fought for ?freedom, democracy, and humanity,” against what is undoubtedly one of the most brutal military regimes in the world. This dedicated and empathetic ?rebel” leader emphasizes that it is not just the Karen people but a whole nation of 60 million people who are still suffering and need to be freed. Although the international community has enjoyed what some call a honeymoon with the Burmese government since the country started opening up in 2011, according to Nerdah Bo Mya, the government is still not showing signs of sincerity in peace talks nor genuine willingness to change. ?The government is playing the game,” he says, and the international community too often indirectly participating in ongoing atrocities. In this exclusive interview with Burma Link, Nerdah Bo Mya talks about the struggle, the current state of the ceasefire and the peace process, the role of the international community, and how to build a prosperous Burma for the future generations."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
2015-04-07
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Below are excerpts of Karen Human Rights Group?s (KHRG) interview with Ma A—, a Karen villager who describes events occurring in her village in June 2015, including land confiscation, forced relocation, attack on a village and villagers, threatening, looting, arbitrary detention and threats to children?s right to education. The interview was conducted in Thaton District in July 2015 by a community member trained by KHRG to monitor local human rights conditions."
Source/publisher: Burma Link
2015-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Burmese regime?s protracted violent conflict with its ethnic minorities has resulted in 2 million migrants and refugees settling across the border in Thailand. In addition there are an estimated 600,000 internally displaced people in border regions within Burma. For many, conventional health services are limited or unavailable. This article reports on the use, preservation, and practice of traditional Karen medicine among refugees and migrants along the Thai?Burma border. Traditional health practitioners are adapting their practices to meet refugee and migrants? changing needs, creating options for sustainable community-based health services..."
Creator/author: Gerard Bodeker, Cora Neumann
Source/publisher: Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-10-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 311.81 KB
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Description: "Commissioned by CPCS, Myanmar: Portraits of Diversity is a series of short films seeking to stimulate discussion and move audiences towards recognizing, accepting, and celebrating religious diversity in Myanmar. Directed by Kannan Arunasalam, the films present individuals from Myanmar?s different religious communities and highlight the inter-faith connections and engagement that take place naturally around the country. Featuring stories of cooperation across religious and ethnic divides, as well as the capacity for peace leadership within the country, community leaders share analysis and insights into the threat of inter-communal violence and illustrate the capacity for peace leadership...The film series seeks to stimulate alternative narratives regarding ethnic and spiritual issues in Myanmar where tolerance and cooperation are highlighted, rather than conflict and persecution. Screened together with guided reflections, the films can be used as tools to stimulate exchanges of ideas about diversity and tolerance, and to create a space to foster acceptance and share visions for the future. The issues raised by individuals featured in the films can be used to generate discussions on Myanmar?s different religious communities and highlight the kinds of inter-faith connections and engagement that take place naturally around the country. A discussion and study guide is available for each video portrait, followed by suggested activities that can also be adapted to different learning environments. For each film, background is provided on the person and their context, followed by five discussion questions and extension activities..."
Source/publisher: Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS)
2015-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English and Burmese
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Karen (ကရင်ဘာသာ)
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Description: "This article aims to shed light on the significance of the mission policy and interaction between the mission society in America and missionaries in Burma, in order to comprehend the manner in which the Karens of the 19th century were described. The Karens have been known as ?a Christianized people,” and they have been described thus both by themselves and others for quite a period of time. While this is still generally the case, yet many point to the fact that such an understanding does not precisely reflect the reality of the situation. As a matter of fact, the Christians, two-thirds of which are Baptists constitute merely a minority of the entire Karen population, slightly over 10 percent of their total number, and the majority of those people have been and still are Buddhists. This situation indicates that the general view of the Karens being Christian is distorted. And if so, one cannot avoid asking why such a distorted view came to grow so dominant with reference to our understanding of those people. A closer look into the historical situation is the key to prove this issue..."
Creator/author: FUJIMURA Hitomi
Source/publisher: The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, No. 32, 2014... 上智アジア学 第32 号2014 年 目次 ...Burma Studies in Japan: History, Culture and Religion
2014-12-27
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 695.61 KB
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Description: Abstract: "Migration is the act or process of moving from one place to another with the intent of staying at the destination permanently or for a relatively long period of time (1992, Longman). It can also be assumed that people move from one place to another, usually their home place, to work or to settle in another place. As basic factors, migration take place an area where the migrants believe that their opportunity and life circumstances will be better at their destinations than the present location. Nevertheless, if an area where takes place a movement of in-­migration because of positive conditions (pull factors), this will be generally increased the population or human resources. Similarly, if an area where takes place a movement of out-­migration due to negative conditions (push factors), this area will lose their population or human resources. Some time it affects the negative impacts and potential challenges for sustainable socio-­economic development of this area. Therefore, this study is based on some specific areas of Myanmar: Hpa-­an Township, Kayin State and Mrauk-­U Township, Rakhine State where migration process takes place by focusing the question of how and why the people are migrating in these areas. This paper is intended to explore the migration patterns of these are as and to point out the main reasons of push and pull factors for these migrations. To obtain the relevant data, it is analyzed with field observation and in semi-­structured in-­depth interview survey method to the local authorities, experts and local people. Some of the facts from the interview data are assessed by SWOT Analysis to know the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats due to migration. As a result from this study, economic condition is the key factor of the migration for the study areas and that effect on the socioeconomic condition of these areas.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015.
Creator/author: Saw Yu May
Source/publisher: International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-­26 July 2015
2015-09-04
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 724.74 KB
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
2011-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Karen (ကရင်ဘာသာ)
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Source/publisher: http://www.drumpublications.org/download/karenfaithsk.pdf
2007-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Karen (ကရင်ဘာသာ)
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
2007-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Karen (ကရင်ဘာသာ)
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Source/publisher: Drum Publication Group
Date of entry/update: 2015-05-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Karen (ကရင်ဘာသာ)
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Description: Abstract: "This paper examines the interfaces of local community based humanitarian organizations with displaced Karen people in Thai-Burmese border spaces and their claims for cultural rights. It argues that Karen people have to organize themselves in a context where they do not have access to social welfare of the state and in which the state is hostile and oppressive to them. Applying Merry?s thesis on the localization and vernacularization of international rights frameworks in the local context, the paper explores the context of power in which different humanitarian actors intervention in the local conflict zone. The author finds that Karen displaced people have differentiated access to humanitarian assistance and that powerful organizations like the Karen National Union are able to benefit while essentializing Karen culture and suppressing internal difference among the Karen to position itself towards the international donor community, thereby becoming ?liked? or ?preferred? refugees. The paper then also looks at secular and faith-based local humanitarian groups and finds that these groups are deeply embedded in local society and thus able to help effectively. Karen displaced people thus create non-state spaces in border spaces by establishing partnerships with local humanitarian organizations that act as brokers and mediators of international organizations and donors."
Creator/author: Alexander Horstmann
Source/publisher: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religioius and Ethnic Diversity
2012-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 940.17 KB
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Description: "Political grievances among Karen and other ethnic nationality communities, which have driven over half a century of armed conflict in Burma/Myanmar, remain unresolved. As the country enters a period of transition following the November 2010 elections and formation of a new government, the Karen political landscape is undergoing its most significant changes in a generation. There is a pressing need for Karen social and political actors to demonstrate their relevance to the new political and economic agendas in Burma, and in particular to articulate positions regarding the major economic and infrastructure development projects to be implemented in the coming years. The country?s best-known insurgent organisation, the Karen National Union (KNU), is in crisis, having lost control of its once extensive ?liberated zones?, and lacks a political agenda relevant to all Karen communities. Meanwhile the government?s demand that ceasefire groups, such as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, transform into Border Guard Forces under direct Burma Army control throws into question the future of various armed groups that have split from the KNU since the 1990s. In this context, Thailand-Burma border areas have seen an upsurge in fighting since late 2010. Nevertheless, the long-term prospect is one of the decline of insurgency as a viable political or military strategy. Equitable solutions to Burma?s social, political and economic problems must involve settling long-standing conflicts between ethnic communities and the state. While Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular leader of the country?s democracy movement, seems to recognise this fact, the military government, which holds most real power in the country, has sought to suppress and assimilate minority communities. It is yet to be seen whether Karen and other ethnic nationality representatives elected in November 2010 will be able to find the political space within which to exercise some influence on local or national politics. In the meantime, civil society networks operating within and between Karen and other ethnic nationality communities represent vehicles for positive, incremental change, at least at local levels."
Creator/author: Ashley South
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute, Burma Centrum Nederland
2011-03-28
Date of entry/update: 2011-03-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.99 MB
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Description: "...The thesis sought to explore the impact of organized violence, displacement and resettlement has had on the identity of a micro-section of the displaced Karen people ? those professing to be Christian and either living in a displaced persons? camp on the Thai side of the Thai-Burma border or having migrated to a third country under the UNHCR Resettlement Scheme with a special emphasis on Australia. The reason for choosing this particular micro-section of the Karen people is that, though not the predominant faith practiced by the Karen, the Christian Karen are a synecdoche for the Karen internationally. The thesis was informed by theories of organized violence, displacement and resettlement and explored their relationship to the central construct of identity. A transitional ecosystems model was used to explore the interrelationship of these theories and concepts for Christian Karen, displaced from their homeland by organized violence perpetrated by the ruling power of their country..."
Creator/author: Shirley Lorraine Worland
Source/publisher: School of Social Work and Human Services, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland
2010-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.29 MB
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Description: The history of Karen nationalism has been interpreted in terms of inter-ethnic conflict and conceptualizations of ethnicity have influenced understanding of Karen political identity. While 'Karen' incorporated various linguistic, sociocultural, religious and political sub-groups, the Karen National Union (KNU) elite promoted a singular pan-Karen identity in order to minimize such diversity. As a result, factionalism emerged between different Karen groups, obstructing the KNU's political vision and leaving many Karens dissatisfied with KNU attempts to represent their various interests. The fall of Manerplaw in 1995 was thus the result of intra-ethnic conflict as much as conflict between Karens and non-Karens.
Creator/author: Jessica Harriden
Source/publisher: Journal of Burma Studies Vol. 7 (2002)
2002-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Each June, Karen villagers living on Thailand?s border with Burma gather to show appreciation to elephants—their friends and invaluable helpmates.
Creator/author: LAWI WENG
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 16, No. 7
2008-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "THE object of this book is to present and to explain to the reading public, and to those who are in authority, the condition of the Karens, the position they occupy, and their aspirations as a nation second in importance of the indigenous races of the province of Burma. It is their desire to have a country of their own, where they may progress as a race and find the contentment they seek. It is this contentment which gives a man or a nation that satisfaction and good-will and creates that patriotic feeling so essential to the well-being of the nation. Self-respect in a nation begets respect from other nations and races. What a grand thing the achievement of their ambition will be for the Karens, and what praises and blessing will be showered upon those who shall have made it possible. The Karens will then be in a position to show sincere respect to other races, especially to the Burmese, with whom they have been at variance, and in turn the Burmese will find them worthy of respect and esteem..."
Creator/author: Dr. San C. Po C.B.E.
Source/publisher: Elliott Stock (Publisher)
1928-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Angesichts des britischen Verrats gründet der Karen Anwalt Saw Ba U Gyi am 5. Februar 1947 als ersten Schritt zur Selbsthilfe mit 700 Karen Delegierten aus allen Landesteilen die Karen National Union, KNU. Als politische Organisation soll sie den Einfluss seines Volkes hinsichtlich der Verhandlungen zur Unabhängigkeit Burma?s sicherstellen. Bereits im November ‘46 ist die mächtige kommunistische Partei aus der geeinten Front der Anti-Fascist People?s Freedom League, AFPFL Thakin Aung San?s ausgeschlossen worden. Aung San; Panglong Agreement; The Karen during independence
Source/publisher: Burma Riders
2007-07-03
Date of entry/update: 2007-08-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: German, Deutsch
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Description: "Karen communities celebrate their annual ?wrist-tying? festival. The month of August marks a time of year when the bonds of tradition that bind the Karen people are tied in a symbolic but also quite literal way. In Karen families and communities around the world white threads are tied around wrists in a ceremony known as Lah Ku Kee Su...The chief purposes of the festival, however, are to reinforce Karen identity and contribute to the continuation of Karen culture. Saw Nay Kaw, a young Karen Christian living in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi, home to many Karen, summed it up: ?It?s good for Karen culture for Karen people to come together and celebrate once a year like this.?..."
Creator/author: Shah Paung
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 12, No. 8
2004-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-11-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "He has been knighted, honored and revered. But San C. Po?s dream of an independent Karen State remains unfulfilled..."
Creator/author: Shah Paung
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 12, No. 6
2004-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-10-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This paper examines the foundation of the deference paid the Elders in a Karen forest society in Thailand. It is argued that deference and social control are two sides of the same coin, both resting on the fact that the socially most valuable knowledge in Karen society is an attribute of old age. To analyze the foundation of this knowledge, which endows the Elders with social authority and control, it is useful to distinguish between various types of knowledge, such as knowledge of production-technique and ecology, knowledge of social history, and knowledge of ritual and magic. It is further emphasized that the foundation of the Elders' authority, in contrast to many other societies, is neither control of the means of production nor control of such prestige goods, which in unilineal societies may enter the affinal exchange circulation as bridewealth. Their control derives from their knowledge of social history, from their religious knowledge of cosmology, ritual, and ethics, and from their possession of magical know-how..."
Creator/author: Kirsten Ewers Andersen
Source/publisher: Særtryk FOLK Reprint Vol. 21-22 1979/80 - KØBENHAVN
1980-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 336.37 KB
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Description: Karen refugees in the thai-burmese border area. Halockani refugee camp run by the Mon National Committee. Mit dem Beginn der großen Militäroffensive burmesischer Truppen gegen die bewaffneten Guerillabewegungen der nationalen Minderheiten haben seit Anfang dieses Jahres nun auch immer mehr Angehörige der Karen Volksgruppe im thailändischen Grenzgebiet Zuflucht gesucht. Das vom Mon National Committee unterhaltene Halockani-Flüchtlingslager der Mon-Volksgruppe hat daher seine Tore im Sommer auch für Karen-Flüchtlinge geöffnet und Versorgungsgüter zur Verfügung gestellt.
Creator/author: Hans-Günther Wagner
Source/publisher: Netzwerk engagierter Buddhisten
2002-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: "...the frequent dichotomization of Burman and Thai "hill-tribes" as animists opposed to the valley population as Buddhists, the Buddhism of the "hill-tribes" being only a thin veneer on animistic beliefs, does not hold. It is rather a question of an inclusive hierarchization of religious activities and value orientations, where the basis for an exclusive dichotomization becomes unclear and elusive, when one investigates the concerned activities more closely. The levels of activities are interlocked and a future value orientation may be directed towards an increased emphasis on "pure" monk- and more Buddhist elements, as the Karens become subsumed under the Thai cash-crop economy and the concommittant cultural contacts. The role of the boungkhos as maintainers of nature's order will disappear when it becomes evident that economic survival under a new economy immediately seems to depend more on insights into the market-mechanisms than on maintenance of the up till now balanced eco-system."
Creator/author: Kirsten Ewers Andersen
Source/publisher: The Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies
1978-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 35.24 KB
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Description: Most Burmese are familiar with aspects of Karen culture, but few are aware of its deeper significance as an expression of their unique values and historical experience.
Creator/author: Min Zin
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 10
2000-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: keywords: Karen, ideology, field research, history, scientific theory (? in German: Wissenschaftstheorie), theory forming, cultural debates, ethnology-cultural/social anthropology, literature. "In dieser Arbeit wird die englisch-, deutsch- und französischsprachige Literatur über die Karen des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts ausgewertet und im Hinblick auf Theoriebildung und vorherrschende Ideologien analysiert. Untersucht werden dabei verschiedene Karen-Gesellschaften Burmas und Thailands. Die Auswertung der Literatur unter ethnologischen und soziologischen Gesichtspunkten liefert einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Theoriebildung über die Karen..."
Creator/author: Reiner Buergin
1992-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: "This paper is a short presentation of two Pwo Karen sects as they may be found in contemporary Western Central Thailand. It will discuss the organization, origin, and cultural content of the two denominations in order to show how their politico-religious concepts and ritual architecture are related to their historical position in a larger system comprising the Buddhist monarchial civilizations of Burma and Thailand. It is my supposition that the religious paraphernalia of present day sects materialized in a certain historical context as symbols of royalty and autonomy, and in the larger social context functioned to identify these Pwo Karen collectively as a sovereign part of a larger civilized world. These symbols of self-defined participation in the world, and at times even claims to superiority, had been moulded according to a model set by the monarchism of the 18th century Mon Buddhist kingdom in Lower Burma. It included a messianic Buddhist framework, which precipitated millenarian expectations of the rise of a world conqueror and subsequent future Buddha, the Buddha Ariya Mettaya, who would install a new and ideal society for the elect. Viewing the history of the Buddhist valley civilizations, be they Burmese, Mon or Thai, we may see that this messianic aspect of Theravada Buddhism has been the catalyst for both social discontent and personal political ambitions within the Buddhist societies of Southeast Asia.2 The term 'Karen' covers a category of people in Burma and Thailand who speak related languages. Karen-speaking people are spread over a large area, and their habitations are found in the hills and forests as well as the lowland. Everywhere Karen groups live interspersed among various other ethnic groups, hill as well as valley peoples..."
Creator/author: Kirsten Ewers Andersen
Source/publisher: Soertryk FOLK Reprint Vol. 23 1981 K0BENHAVN
1981-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 246.61 KB
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