Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  We are the first target. There is no other organization that really touches on the military. We always monitor; we always touch on the military issues when it comes to the military. This is why we have a network inside Burma. It's also why we keep our office in Thailand or on t

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As we mentioned before, the funding has ended. We're worried that now most of the aid goes through the Burmese government inside Burma. The struggle in Burma is also ethnic rights. This is why it's important that it go both ways, so that it's sustainable. Also, there should be

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, that's right.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Our main office is based in Chiang Mai, but all the activities and member organizations are in different ethnic areas in the conflict areas.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. Actually, I came to the refugee camp in 1995. I went to school there. I started working with the women's organization in 2001, and I can never leave that organization because I have seen people who have suffered. All my family have set out to other countries like Canada an

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Because of the lack of funding, we are unable to support the women, unfortunately. We always take information from them, but we also have a plan to work with women survivors to build a survivor movement and also to provide shelters and counselling for these women. In the confli

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Unfortunately, we don't have any support for them.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, when we travelled to the UN, especially the UN General Assembly, on our lobbying trip, we also tried to raise the same things and the same recommendations. Also, when we went to the U.K., at the global summit we also recommended the same thing in calling for an independent i

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Especially for this interfaith marriage law, those who are strongly involved in stopping this are women, the women's organizations, but also other supporters, and yes, the risk is getting high for them and they have to be careful. As I mentioned before, they keep receiving phone

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Regarding these elections, we can say that the military will stay in power unless the constitution changes, because the constitution guarantees to protect the military, and 25% will stay there. Also the winning party will be the military party, so it will remain the same, and hum

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Our two recommendations as I mentioned before include taking a lead in the call for an international investigation into human rights violations in Burma, particularly related to the military sector violence, and continuing to provide direct support to the ethnic civil society org

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Actually, regarding the interfaith marriage bill, they say this is to protect the women, but the protection that we want is not this bill. It is not protecting women. It is restricting women's rights and it is not in line with international law. Through this they say that they ar

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, we are working together with the Women's Organizations Network. It is also a big women's organization inside Burma. For them it's a bit difficult as they are living in Burma. We are based in Thailand for security reasons, but most of our activities are taking place in Burma.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The Women's League of Burma comprises women's organizations from different ethnic backgrounds, so we're working in nearly every ethnic state. Rape cases occur in nearly every ethnic state where the conflict is taking place.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My name is Wahkushee. I'm ethnic Karen, and I come from southeast Burma. Thank you very much for having me here to speak to you today. First, I would like to say thank you very much to the Canadian government for their long support of ethnic civil society organizations and dire