Office Address:

145 Spruce St. suite #206
Ottawa, ONtario
Canada K1R 6P1
Tel: (613) 237-8056/ Fax: (613) 563-0017

Announcement Advocating humanitarian assistance to Kachin IDPs in Burma

For immediate release: June 7, 2012
Information Released by Canadian Friends of Burma

OTTAWA – In response to a global action calling for to address the appalling situation of 80,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in northern Burma, representatives of Kachin Community in Canada will join forces with Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) in Ottawa this Friday June 8, 2012 to raise the issue with the Government of Canada. They are to highlight the immediate need to provide humanitarian assistance to those IDPs.

The situation results from armed conflict, increasing militarization and subsequent human rights abuses in Kachin State of Burma since a 17-year-old ceasefire between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) collapsed exactly a year ago, due to the lack of political settlement on the foundation for a genuine federalism of Burma and control over naturally resource-rich areas including a hydroelectric power development project on the Irrawaddy River and 1,100-mile oil and gas pipelines that go through the Kachin territory.

Several ceasefire attempts in the past year have faltered and yielded no viable solution and the situation has been exacerbated to an unprecedented level with widespread displacement of civilians. 

Representatives of the Kachin community in Canada will meet with Members of Parliament, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Representatives of Canadian Friends of Burma and Inter Pares, a Canadian social justice organization, will also be present during the meetings.

For further info, please contact Tin Maung Htoo at (613) 297-6835

The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) is federally incorporated, national non-governmental organization working for democracy and human rights in Burma since 1991. Contact: Suite 206, 145 Spruce St., Ottawa, K1R 6P1; Tel: 613.237.8056; Email: cfob@cfob.org; Web: www.cfob.org