News and Updates

The Karen National Union (KNU) launched its revised Land Policy in Yangon during May 2016. The policy recognises and protects the rights to customary tenure for indigenous communities and land restitution for displaced communities.

Civil society organisation and TBC partner TRIP-NET launched a report on 24 March in Yangon documenting lessons learnt from natural resource management in contested areas.

The 2015 Nutrition Survey carried out by TBC and health agencies revealed significant progress in reducing stunting by 5.7% and maintaining a low level of wasting at 2.0% in the refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma/Myanmar border since 2013.

Funding for thousands of displaced Karen people living at Ei Tu Hta IDP camp face a daunting future as funding will stop in September 2017.

The Myanmar Times has published a front page article exploring refugee perspectives about the elections. While an error about rice rations in the 1990s is unfortunate, the inclusion of refugees in reporting by the mass media about national political affairs is a welcome development.