“The state counsellor told me that every child has a right to education," said KBC's Reverend Samson Hkalam.

Burma pledges “no restrictions” on journalists visiting the troubled state of Arakan this week, in the first official trip to include foreign reporters to mostly Rohingya Muslim villages affected by violence since October.

A delegation led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees travelled to Arakan State on Sunday, visiting the troubled region less than a week after security forces there were put on high alert amid a spate of recent killings that the government has blamed on “terrorists.”

The concerns of ethnic Karen refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were raised on Tuesday, World Refugee Day, over the lack of a clear plan for the return and reintegration of those going back to their homelands.

New research has found that in camps for the internally displaced in Kachin State, women’s needs struggle to be heard as the conflict in northern Burma enters its seventh year.

IDPs at E Htu Hta camp are calling for the withdrawal of Burmese military forces from the area, as well as a campaign to clear landmines.