The Situation of Refugees on the Thai-Burma Border

This briefing paper looks at the current situation in Burma’s ethnic areas, the areas that refugees would be returned to, and shows how the conditions are not yet in place for their return. Furthermore, it highlights the need for the refugees to be included in these processes and lays out refugees and community-based organization’s preconditions for their return […]

Lost Paradise: Damaging Impact of Mawchi Tin Mines in Burma’s Karenni State

The Molo Women Mining Watch Network was formed by women from the Karenni Women’s Organization, Karenni Social Welfare and Development Centre and Karenni Evergreen Organization, who wanted to research information about the Mawchi tin mines. The network was named after the Molo Stream which flows from the Mawchi mines to the Salween River. It aims to work for women throughout our state who are facing social and environmental impacts of mining, and to empower them to solve these problems […]

Pipeline Nightmare

Shwe Pipeline Brings Land Confiscation, Militarization and Human Rights Violations to the Ta’ang People

This report illustrates how the Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline project, which will transport oil and gas across Burma to China, has resulted in the confiscation of people’s lands, forced labor, and increased military presence along the pipeline, affecting thousands of people […]

Analysis Paper on the Ceasefire Process Between the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Burmese Government in the Last Six Months

At the start of the current peace negotiation process between the KNPP and the Government of Burma the Karenni Civil Societies Network (KCSN) released a statement welcoming the talks, and is continuing to monitor closely the peace process between the two parties.

KCSN believes that only through negotiation between both parties to seek solutions to the problems in Karenni State, as agreed during the State Level and Union Level talks, can genuine and permanent peace be achieved […]

Destination Unknown: Hope and Doubt Regarding IDP Resettlement in Mon State

The growing optimism surrounding Burma’s political and social transitions has begun to be accompanied by ambitions to resettle displaced communities along the country’s border with Thailand. As the notion and its attendant proposals continue to proliferate, it seems timely to assess how the communities directly affected by this prospect feel about resettlement […]

Not in Theory, Not in Practice: Freedom of Assembly and Association in Burma

The rights of peaceful assembly and association in Burma are fragile at best. The Burma government has enacted reforms to address this gap in human rights protection. Sadly the reforms are lacking and citizens are regularly denied any semblance of protection in relation to international human rights standards.

The Unlawful Associations Act1 and the NGO Registration Law haven’t been repealed; these remain large obstacles if Burma is to have freedom of assembly and association […]

Land Grabbing in Dawei (Myanmar/Burma): An (Inter)National Human Rights Concern

Land grabbing is an urgent concern for people in Tanintharyi Division, and ultimately one of national and international concern, as tens of thousands of people are being displaced for the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Dawei lies within Myanmar’s (Burma) southernmost region, the Tanintharyi Division, which borders Mon State to the North, and Thailand to the East, on territory that connects the Malay Peninsula with mainland Asia […]

Concerns and Recommendations Regarding Peace Funds

While peace funds are well intentioned, the governance of them has some shortcomings. Burma groups are concerned that they have the potential to undermine the agenda for a comprehensive peace process and engender more harm than the projected benefits.

This position paper outlines a collective message to the Peace Donor Support Group, especially to Norway and the World Bank given that they are moving ahead with their peace fund initiatives, as well as other proponents including the Burma government and its concerned agencies, the implementing NGOs, private firms and consultants […]


“We Have Seen This Before”: Burma’s Fragile Peace Process

This paper seeks to outline and analyze the peace processes initiated by President Thein Sein’s government in the last year in both ceasefire and non-ceasefire areas […]

From Persecution to Deprivation: International Donors Neglect 60,000 Displaced Kachin on China-Burma Border

About 60,000 Kachin villagers fleeing Burma Army attacks and persecution, who are sheltering in Kachin-controlled territory along the China-Burma border, have received almost no international aid since conflict broke out in June 2011.

Data compiled from local relief groups shows that international aid agencies, including the UN, have provided only 4% of basic food needs of this displaced population, who have been kept alive almost entirely by private donations from local and overseas compatriots […]