Burma Link | Land Portal

Location

Mae Sot , Tak
Thailand
Tak TH
Working languages: 
Burmese
English

Burma Link is a non-profit non-governmental organisation that was founded by foreign specialists in the field of ethnic relations and international development together with refugees and migrants from Burma in August 2012 in Mae La refugee camp, Thailand. We set up Burma Link to centralise information on Burma’s conflict and displacement situation and to amplify the voices of local organisations working towards free and peaceful Burma.

The initial idea of creating an informational website collecting information and voices of local civil society groups gradually developed into establishing a non-profit organisation that seeks to amplify Burma’s marginalised voices from the ground through projects such as publishing books and research reports based on the stories and voices of Burma’s ethnic nationalities and displaced people, drawing attention to these untold stories and making recommendations to policy makers and stakeholders.

As part of our ongoing project, we publish life stories and in depth interviews with a wide variety of civil society actors as well as soldiers and leaders from different Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) that work towards a Federal Union of Burma. We have been publishing life stories on our English website since April 2013 and Burmese website since January 2014. In March 2016, we published a book of life stories, “Lives on the Line: Voices for Change from the Thailand-Burma Border,” after successfully raising the funds for the project through an online crowdfunding platform. The book brings stories of Burma’s ethnic nationalities from the border area to local and international audiences in Burmese and English.

In 2015, we collaborated with Burma Partnership on a briefing paper “Voices of Refugees – Situation of Burma’s Refugees Along the Thailand-Burma Border,” which was published online in English on April 27, and in Burmese on June 20. All the 20 interviews for the paper were conducted by Burma Link members in different Thai border refugee camps. Burma Link was also one of the organisations to produce the 2015 Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Refugees and Displaced Persons (Burma/Myanmar). In 2016, we collaborated with the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) and Burma Partnership to produce a report, “Invisible Lives: The Untold Story of Displacement Cycle in Burma,” bringing attention to the plight of Mon IDPs.

Burma Link was legally registered as a non-profit organisation in August 2013. Burma Link operates with volunteer staff members and local interns, all of whom are deeply committed to our Vision, Mission and Values. In addition, a Governing Board made up of four local and international professionals representing Burma Link’s members provides overall sanctioning of Burma Link’s operation.

Burma Link Resources

Displaying 1 - 5 of 6
Library Resource
Reports & Research
August, 2016
Myanmar

Executive Summary:
"Recently, much attention surrounding Burma has focused on the democratic reform, 2015
elections and the future of the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led Government, whilst
a profound humanitarian crisis and continuing concerns of the ethnic minority communities in
the southeast have been largely ignored. The recent story of political and economic reform
has insufficiently addressed the ongoing struggles of internally displaced persons (IDPs), as

Library Resource
Reports & Research
August, 2016
Myanmar

Executive Summary: "Recently, much attention surrounding Burma has focused on the democratic reform, 2015 elections and the future of the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led Government, whilst a profound humanitarian crisis and continuing concerns of the ethnic minority communities in the southeast have been largely ignored. The recent story of political and economic reform has insufficiently addressed the ongoing struggles of internally displaced persons (IDPs), as they become an inconvenient truth rendered invisible by the larger reform narrative.

Library Resource
Reports & Research
February, 2016
Myanmar

“We have to work with the voice of the people,” Nai Aue Mon tells me in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand, as we discuss the recent rise of land confiscation and land disputes in the Mon State. Aue Mon has been with the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) since 1999, when he started witnessing the abuse and violations of the rights of civilians in the Mon State. He first began working as a journalist for the Mon publication Guiding Star, before beginning his work as documenting and defending human rights.

Library Resource
Reports & Research
August, 2015
Myanmar

Moon Nay Li is the General Secretary of the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT), an organisation which she joined in 2002 in order to work for her people and community. The KWAT was founded on September 9th 1999 in response to recognising the urgent need for women to organise themselves to help solve the growing social and economic problems in the Kachin State...The KWAT is very concerned that foreign aid and investment is serving to subsidise the government’s war machine.

Library Resource
Reports & Research
Myanmar

Despite a number of peace talks having been conducted between the central government and Kachin Independence Army (KIA), there is no sign of the war ceasing in Kachin state. The ongoing armed conflict has been driving thousands of civilians out of their villages. Many IDPs are now living in church supported camps along with relief from international humanitarian agencies. IDPs living in crowded camps with limited support face various obstacles as they cannot practice their livelihood anymore.

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