Irrawaddy-Dec 28

The new UN special envoy on Myanmar called for a nationwide ceasefire as military tensions remained high in parts of Karen State and Bago Region amid ongoing fighting and the arrival on Tuesday of junta reinforcements. The affected areas—Karen’s Myawaddy and Papun districts, and Bago’s Nyaung Lay Pin district—are controlled by the country’s oldest revolutionary force, the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA). Fighting has been going on in Karen State, particularly in Myawaddy’s Lay Kay Kaw new town and surrounding areas, for two weeks. Monday, the UN’s special envoy on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, called for “a New Year’s ceasefire throughout Myanmar.” She said she was “deeply concerned by the continued escalation of violence in Kayin [Karen] State and other parts of Myanmar,” which has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, including women and children. Meanwhile, more than 5,000 civilians have sought protection and assistance in Thailand, while many more are stranded on the Myanmar side of the Moei River, which forms the border, following the junta’s offensives in Lay Kay Kaw. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/un-special-envoy-on-myanmar-calls-for-nationwide-new-years-ceasefire.html