Karen/Burmese
*When looking for information regarding our Burmese students, it is helpful to use the search word Myanmar. Many of our students and parents still refer to Myanmar as Burma, because the renaming of the country was a result of a military coup and NOT an official election. Burmese refugees have been displaced in refugee camps on the borders of Thailand and throughout Malaysia. There are no “official” refugee camps located in Malaysia. Malaysia has the lowest possible score on the 2009 Refugee Rights Report Card. (Taken from the 2011 study conducted by the Women’s Refugee Council) “The vast majority of Myanmar (Burmese) refugees that flee to Malaysia live in and around Kuala Lumpur, there are no refugee camps in Malaysia; instead refugees share low cost housing, often in groups of 40 or more. They have no access to legal employment and so they tend to work in jobs that are dirty, dangerous, and difficult. “ “Refugee children do not have access to formal education.” -Taken from a 2011 study conducted by the Women’s refugee Commission, concerning Burmese refugees in Malaysia. Karen Cultural Profile: Thai/Burmese https://ethnomed.org/culture/karen/karen-cultural-profile Language Spoken: KAREN The Karen /kəˈrɛn/, or Karenic, languages are tonal languages spoken by some seven million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages. The Karen languages are written using the Burmese script. Word to Word Karen to English Dictionary: This is a helpful resource when communicating with parents and students. http://www.drumpublications.org/dictionary.php |
Helpful Sites pertaining to our Karen Speaking Population:
http://online.culturegrams.com/ Statistics on Karen Speaking People: http://worldrelief.org/page.aspx?pid=1155 Fast Facts/Infographic on Burma: http://pages.mapsofworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/myanmar-burma-fast-facts.jpg Helpful Videos Concerning the Karen People: The Persecution of Karen people: |