Produced by Partners Relief and Development, one can see a glimpse into the nearly seven decade struggle of the Karen people inside Burma's eastern jungles. 

The Enemy Came from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.

Produced in 2009, one can see a glimpse into the nearly seven decade struggle of the Karen people inside Burma's eastern jungles.

©2011 Partners Relief and Development

Partners in Relief        Free Burma Rangers         Dare Network

FBR REPORT: Karen State, Burma - 25 September, 2011

This report contains a compilation of information gathered by Free Burma Ranger teams in Karen State.

Dooplaya District, Central Karen State

The following is an update on a village that was hit with Burma Army mortar fire in June during fighting between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and Burma Army Infantry Battalion (IB) 283 (see previous report). On 7 June 2011, Burma Army mortar fire killed a seven-year-old child and wounded two other villagers when it landed in Mae Ta Ler Village in Kaw Taw Ri (Kawkareik) Township, Dooplaya District.

Pictured below is the deceased 7-year-old Saw Kaw Buh. He died that day (7 June 2011) from head injuries which he sustained due to mortar fire.

The Free Burma Rangers’ (FBR) mission is to provide hope, help and love to internally displaced people inside Burma, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Using a network of indigenous field teams, FBR reports on human rights abuses, casualties and the humanitarian needs of people who are under the oppression of the Burma Army. FBR provides medical, spiritual and educational resources for IDP communities as they struggle to survive Burmese military attacks.

For more information, please visit www.freeburmarangers.org

To help those making a difference on the BorderLine check out: http://www.darenetwork.com/

We can make a difference!

FBR Report:

Arakan State, Burma

31 May, 2011

Since the first week of January 2011, the Burma Army has been attacking the ALA (Arakan Liberation Army) and the CNA (Chin National Army), two pro-democracy ethnic resistance groups comprised of farmers who are forced to take up arms to protect their families from rape, torture and death. 

During this recent operation the Burma Army forced more than one hundred villagers in the Western Burma area to work as slave labourers. They carried the soldiers' rations, ammunition and miscellaneous goods to the border area for 4 days. No food, water or rest, they are left to die where they drop from exhaustion.

Many families in this area left their homes to avoid doing forced labor for the Burma Army because of the great cost to their community and families. About 900 people have joined the already million people now in hiding and on the run in the jungle. They cannot return to their homes -  their food and crops are ravaged, their homes burned, they will either be shot or die as "porters." More and more people are being displaced as the Burma Army operation continues. They are living a nightmare. If they do make it across the border to the refugee camps they are now being sent back as  slaves or body counts. When did we get so divorced from caring?

The following Burma Army battalions have been engaging in attacks against the ALA and human rights abuses against civilians: 232, 289, 55, 538, 34, 580, and 263. MOC 2 has also been involved in recent operations. We hope that by publishing this info we can reach the human beings inside these battalions. They suffer as well.

The Free Burma Rangers’ (FBR) mission is to provide hope, help and love to internally displaced people inside Burma, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Using a network of indigenous field teams, FBR reports on human rights abuses, casualties and the humanitarian needs of people who are under the oppression of the Burma Army. FBR provides medical, spiritual and educational resources for IDP communities as they struggle to survive Burmese military attacks.

For more information, please visit www.freeburmarangers.org

To help those making a difference on the BorderLine check out: http://www.darenetwork.com/

We can make a difference!

Not So Different from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.

Naw Paw Ta Eh Moo is 11 years old and lives in Burma. She likes to sing and play volleyball. When she grows up she wants to be a nurse and raise a family. She is not so different from any other child.

We have the power to fight for change for Naw Paw Ta Eh Moo. We can use our voice to speak to the places she cannot. Please blog, share and tweet her story, that her testimony may not go unnoticed.

For more information on the situation in Burma or how you can support the children of this conflict, please visit:

Partners in Relief        Free Burma Rangers         Dare Network

Music credit: Balmorhea "Baleen Morning" (usage license pending)
©2011 Partners Relief and Development

On December 6, 2010 in Dooplaya District, Karen State, Burma over 200 people fled from the Burma army with nothing more than what they could carry on their backs.

Led to safety by Free Burma Rangers relief teams, they took up temporary residence at what has become a new internally displaced person site.

Partners Relief and Development and Free Burma Rangers were able to provide them with supplies including over 2400 kilos of rice, mats, blankets, clothes and tarps within 5 days of their arrival.

For more information and ways you can help visit:

Partners in Relief        Free Burma Rangers         Dare Network

Your generous contributions and support have made this emergency relief possible. Thank you.

Music credit: Balmorhea "Bowspirit" (usage license pending)
©2011 Partners Relief and Development

Internally Displaced: December 6, 2010 from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.

An Amazing Race. Global Giving Challenge

DARE has been invited by Global Giving to participate in an Open Challenge to raise $4000., from November 29, 2010 to December 22, 2010 for our Teens for Kids Addiction Prevention Education Program.  We need your help.

We are reaching out to you to ask for your support for Burmese Refugee youth and children. DARE Network has been working with the refugee people of Burma on the Thai/Burma Border for the last 10 years to help mitigate problems associated with addiction among a people who have lost everything and forced to live for decades in overcrowded and guarded refugee camps.  www.darenetwork.com 

• Global Giving's Open Challenge is an opportunity for DARE Network (Drug and Alcohol Recovery and Education Network) to join the Global Giving community on a permanent basis, opening up sustained support from new sources.

• DARE Network needs to raise at least $4,000 from 50 or more donors by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, December 22, 2010.

• At the conclusion of the Challenge the top three (3) projects that raise the most funds will also receive Bonus Grants from Global Giving of $3,000, $2,000,and $1,000 respectively.

• The project with the greatest number of unique donors will be awarded a *bonus grant* of $2,000.

• Bonus Day Surprise! For 1 day (24 hours), ALL donations (up to $1000 each) will be matched at 15% till the total matching grant of $3000 is used up. The matching funds will *not* count towards to the $4000 threshold.

• *The date of the Bonus Day will be released one week beforehand.

• Also, Global Giving will be offering a *Spreading the Word Bonus!

• The top 5 projects whose project pages have been shared the most on Facebook will receive $300 each. You can see the total count on the leaderboard on Global Giving Website.

Please make a donation to DARE Network at Global Giving between November 29th and December 22th, 2010:

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/burmese-refugee-youth-prevent-addiction-and-violence/

Listed under Children and Human Rights. Any donation, any size is needed and will make a big difference. Please share this link and send a personal request to your friends, family and network to help DARE Network meet the Challenge. We will keep you posted or follow us on the Global Giving website.

5 November, 2010

FBR REPORT: 

Karen State, Burma

Dear friends,

The dictators of Burma and their government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), held elections on November 7th. They were not free or fair.

The SPDC has banned voting in some ethnic areas, has pre-assigned parliamentary seats guaranteed to the military by the constitution, has assured dominance by SPDC-backed parties in the campaigning process, enacted unfair election laws, has an unjust constitution and has refused to accept the internationally recognized election that Aung San Suu Kyi and pro-democracy groups won in 1990.

Here in the ethnic areas where the FBR teams are training and providing humanitarian assistance, the election is viewed as a farce. There has been a large reduction of troops in this and other ethnic conflict areas. That is because the Burma Army is concentrated on controlling the election and its outcome and are focused on major population centers and the borders of the conflict areas. 

Dispatch from Relief Team Leader 
Free Burma Rangers

We were just at a village that was burned in July 2010 by the Burma Army in their attempt to crush all opposition to their rule. The people lost almost everything and one man lost his life. Still the people have come back and are rebuilding their homes and harvesting the ripened rice. As we helped them to gather the rice they told us, "This is our home, we are not included in the election and do not believe them anyway. We will keep rebuilding and keep doing the things we need to do to feed our families and educate our children. We love our village and will stay."

Back here in one of our relief team training camps, the multi-ethnic teams are learning how to better serve their people and doing a tremendous job. They think little of the elections and view them as a ploy of the dictators to try to gain legitimacy. The main concern of the men and women here is to learn their duties well and work for freedom, justice and reconciliation. The teams are not only of many ethnic groups but are also of different faiths. One of the things we do is to pray for our enemies and to remember that while the dictators do evil things which must be resisted, they are still human and in the end we are all brothers and sisters who need to reconcile.

We have had a very good time with our students and talked about how the ethos in FBR is 'never quit' rather than 'you have to be superman or we will kick you out'. One student from the Naga team (western India side) said, "I am weaker and not as clever as others, but I am giving my all to help my people be free. As for those of my friends who are stronger and better than me, they are not here."

We are encouraged by the people here and by people like you, dear reader. We recently received this in a message from a friend, "I'm just going through the Book of Daniel... I don't understand much about the details of how all those visions were fulfilled through history, but here's one point I take away from listening to it all; all the tyrants come to an end. All of them."

The role of FBR is to give help, hope and love. Thank you all for helping us do that.

God, in all permutations, bless you.

Free Burma Rangers

World Refugee Week Celebrations June16-20, 2010

World Refugee Week Celebrations at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street Ottawa, will feature portraits, videos, presentations and live performances of artists and activists from around the world.  For schedule of events:  www.refugeeweek.com

 World Refugee Week 2010 in Ottawa provides an opportunity for community members to acknowledge the challenges overcome by refugees who now live in Ottawa. For example:

• a woman who fought for a liveable minimum wage who endured persecution, torture, and death in her family;
• an artist who fled a civil war endured starvation and the constant threat of attack by wild animals;
• a painter who requested a passport who was jailed and forced to sign a false confession;
• a eco-activist was forced to leave her home due to threats of physical harm.

Through art their struggles are displayed and transformed into a vision of passion, hope, and determination. The multimedia presentation of portraits, paintings and videos is open for viewing daily from 1-8 PM in room A on the ground floor of Library and Archives Canada (LAC) with presentations and live performances given at 3PM daily (unless otherwise noted).

Karen State, Burma

9 May, 2010

Villager in ruins of his home after Burma Army attack May 2010

" I don't want to live under this government" were the words of a villager as he stood in the remains of his home that was burned by the Burma Army. With tears in his eyes he described the attacks that destroyed his home and village and how his family had to flee for their lives in the face of the Burma Army attacks. He pointed across the valley to a new mountaintop Army camp that dominated the area. "They are there and they will shoot."

Dear friends, this is a brief photo essay from here in Ler Doh Township, Nyaunglebin District, western Karen State, Burma.

We are on a relief mission following Burma Army attacks that killed villagers, burned homes and displaced over 3,000 people. The Burma Army has built two new camps in this area and regularly shell villagers they see attempting to approach their old rice fields.

Thanks to your help we have been able to provide emergency assistance through the teams on the ground here from the beginning of the attacks in January up to now. Many local organizations under coordination by the Karen pro-democracy resistance (KNU), work together to provide, food, shelter, medical supplies and educational support. The displaced people and our relief teams here have especially benefited from the support of Partners Relief and Development.

As we meet people in their hiding places or as they clear and plant new fields, we are impressed by their endurance and hope. They feel that they are right to hold on to their homeland, they feel innocent in that they have never attacked the dictators' homes and they know they can survive terrible privations. All this they do with good cheer and hope.

Still, sometimes it is too much and like the man in the ruins of his home, people break down and weep. But they do not give up and we have not given up and because you too have not given up, there is hope. Most of all we believe that love, truth, justice and reconciliation will prevail and as we try to walk in those ways we feel grateful.

Thank you and bless you,

A Relief Team Leader

Western Karen State, Burma

The Free Burma Ranger’s (FBR) mission is to provide hope, help and love to internally displaced people inside Burma, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Using a network of indigenous field teams, FBR reports on human rights abuses, casualties and the humanitarian needs of people who are under the oppression of the Burma Army. FBR provides medical, spiritual and educational resources for IDP communities as they struggle to survive Burmese military attacks.

For more information, please visit www.freeburmarangers.org