UN Committee expresses concern about violence against Karen people in Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park

26 March 2012

GENEVA – UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed concern regarding forceful eviction and harassment of Karen indigenous people from Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park and requested the government to provide information on their situation in the park.

The Committee sent a letter sent to the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN on 9 March 2012 in response to the information submitted by a non-governmental organization.

According to the information, the Committee writes, an increasing level of violence has been committed against the Karen people by the Thai National Park and Forestry Authorities despite existing laws protecting the rights of the Karen people to live in national parks and other forest areas. They point out that laws such as the Thai Cabinet Resolution of 3^rd August 2010 (on the restoration of traditional practices and livelihoods of Karen people) categorically provide them with the right to remain in ancestral lands and practise traditional agricultural rotation.

MYANMAR: Karen groups cautious on peace initiative

Photo: Contributor/IRIN

Thousands of Karen have been displaced

BANGKOK, 5 March 2012 (IRIN) – Karen representatives and international groups have expressed caution over recent peace efforts in Myanmar, appealing to the international community, especially the European Union and the US, to maintain pressure on the Burmese government.

“We welcome the peace initiative between the Karen National Union [KNU] and the Burmese government,” Zoya Phan, chair of the European Karen Network and adviser to the Karen Community Association, told IRIN on 5 March in Bangkok. “But we remain cautious over the government’s commitment,” she said. 

MYANMAR/Burma: Karen People Worldwide Call For Genuine Peace And A Federal Union Of Burma

Representatives from Karen organizations worldwide today call for genuine peace throughout Burma and for national reconciliation towards the establishment of a federal union. They also appealed to the international community, especially the European Union and the United States, to maintain pressure on the Burmese Government until there is tangible political change for the Karen and for all the people of Burma.

Today’s appeals were the result of a four-day conference organized by the Karen National Unity Committee from 27 February to 1 March in Kawtholei, Karen State. The conference was attended by 167 Karen participants, including community and religious leaders, as well as representatives from women, youth and other Karen ethnic organizations from inside Burma and around the world.