Yuzana company destroys farm road in Hugawng valley

Yuzana company farm in Kachin state's Hugawng Valley

Staff from the Yuzana company, one of Burma's largest conglomerates, destroyed a road constructed by local farmers in Wa Ra Zup village in Kachin State's Hugawng (also Hukaung) valley last Friday.

Hpakant jade company offers compensation to slain man’s family

Poeple of raw jade (locally called yemase) collectors at Hpakant in western Kachin state

The Thaukpa Kyae jade mining company in Kachin State Hpakant's township has offered 20 million kyat (USD $ 19,531.2) as compensation to the family of a 20 year old man who was killed on the job. Hpuklawng Gum Ja Awng, also known as Ze Lum, was killed on the evening of October 31. The company claims his death was the result of an accident however the victim's family disputes this explanation.

RFA Kachin Language TV Program, 2014 November 1st Week

Kachin church groups continue drug eradication campaign

 A Church's anti-drug poster with Kachin language on Ledo Road in Hugawng Valley in western Kachin state

Across Kachin state local drug eradication committees backed by church groups are continuing their drug elimination efforts amidst what many Kachin say is a full blown crisis in their state.

KIO Accountant Arrested for Collecting Tax in Hpakant

Burma Army's Light Infantry Division No. 66 soldiers take position near Aung Ba Lay post of KIA Batalion 6 in Hpakant, western Kachin state

 A Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) accountant employed by the KIO's armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and an alleged civilian associate, were arrested by Burma army personnel last week after being accused of unlawfully collecting war funds, according to local residents in Kachin state's jade rich Hpakant district where the arrests took place.

KNU confirms withdrawal from ethnic armed alliance

KNU leader Mutu Say Poe

The Karen National Union (KNU), Burma's oldest armed ethnic group, confirmed last week following a meeting of the group's Central Standing Committee (CSC) an earlier decision to withdraw its membership in Burma's largest armed ethnic alliance, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC).

RFA Kachin Language TV Program, 2014 October 4th Week

Kachin activists want jailed refugees released

Ma Hka, a lawyer and former member of National Democratic Force (NDF) party

Lawyer, activists and various civil society groups held a prayer service on Tuesday in Myitkyina, the Kachin state capital, where they repeated calls for the immediate release of two jailed Kachin refugees, Lahpai Gam and Brang Yung.

Burma army clashes with KIO and its allies in Shan state

Troops from Burma's armed forces and those from the Federal Union Army (FUA), an alliance backed by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), engaged in repeated clashes in northeast Shan state earlier this month. The clashes began on October 15th and lasted for several days.

Burma army orders 1,000 from their land in Hpakant, fighting expected

Burma army's LID No. 66 soldiers in a celebration of Kachin Baptist church in Hpakant, Kachin state, northern Burma

Villagers living in Ginsi Hkaw (also Kanzi hall), Awng Ba Li (also Aung Bar Lay) and Tang Gau, three villages in Kachin state's jade rich Hpakant district, were ordered by local military authorities to leave their homes by 6 pm on Tuesday, the Kachin News Group has learned.

More villagers vote against Yuzana company in Kachin state's Hugawng Valley

Oct 8, 2014 The poll was collected in Nawng Mi village in Hugawng Valley in western Kachin state, Burma

An overwhelming 98% of farmers in two villages in western Kachin state's Hugawng Valley (also spelled Hukaung Valley) voted against the Yuzana company's continued presence in the ecologically sensitive area during a community plebiscite held on October 8th.

KIO closes Hukaung amber mines following tensions with Burma army forces

 People are returning homes after the KIA 2nd Brigade shut down amber mines in Hukaung Valley in western Kachin state, northern Burma

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its armed wing closed several amber mines operating in the group's territory in western Kachin state's Hukaung (Hugawng) Valley last week. The mine shut-downs come after increasing tension between the KIO and Burmese government forces in the area, KIO officials tell the Kachin News Group.

Pro Myanmar government militias fighting KIO growing opium says rights group

A poster of church-led drug eradition is put in front of a Kachin Baptist Church in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state

A new report released by the Kachin Women's Association of Thailand (KWAT) says Burma's military is allowing pro-government militias operating in Kachin and Shan states to grow opium in exchange for their support in the army's campaign against the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), a group that has been in conflict with the central government since a ceasefire broke down in June 2011.

RFA Kachin Language TV Program, 2014 October 1st Week

Latest round of Burma's peace talks end with little progress

 President Thein Sein's and his chief negotiator Aung Min have been pushing to secure a national ceasefire deal with all of Burma's various armed group before November when dozens of world leaders including US President Barrack Obama will be visiting Burma as part of the ASEAN summit.

Talks between the Burmese government's Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC) and the National Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), a group representing most of Burma's armed ethnic groups, wrapped up on Friday in Rangoon after five days of discussion which proved to be largely fruitless.