Karenni Interim Executive Council appeals for more aid during visit to Canada

The Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC) held a meeting with Myanmar nationals living in Canada at a screening of the film “Roots of Revolution: Building Bottom-up Democracy in Eastern Burma” in Toronto on Saturday. 

Zue Padonmar, the IEC secretary 1, told attendees that over 250,000 residents in Karenni State have been displaced from their homes due to the conflict since the uprising to the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021 began.

They are now living in temporary shelters at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Karenni State, and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, including food, healthcare, as well as educational services for youth who have been out of school since 2021.

The IEC was established by Karenni resistance forces in June 2023 as a provisional government to administer areas of Karenni seized after the 2021 coup. 

It has established 11 departments, including four sub-departments under the Home Affairs Department: the Public Administration Department, the Immigration Department, the Emergency Relief Department, and the Karenni State Police Department.

The IEC claims to administer 80 per cent of the state, which historically includes parts of southern Shan State.

Resistance forces claim that it has seized full control over six towns in Karenni, including Mese on the Myanmar-Thailand border and Moebye in southern Shan State’s Pekhon Township, since it launched an offensive on Nov. 11, 2023.

Moebye and Demoso were recaptured by regime forces in July and August 2025. Moebye is located 100 miles (160 km) south of the Shan State capital Taunggyi and 11 miles (17 km) north of the Karenni State capital Loikaw. Demoso is located 11 miles (17 km) south of Loikaw.

Karenni’s Mese, Shadaw, and Hpasawng townships are under Karenni resistance control. Loikaw, Demoso, Hpruso and Bawlakhe are under regime control. Karenni State has a total of seven townships.