Many development projects in regard to the natural resources in Burma become an attractive issue for exploitation by the international corporations and foreign countries' enterprise since the repressive military regime took over power in 1988.

Many of these projects areas are in the non-Burma ethnic states where resistance armies are still fighting for greater autonomy. The military regime commits atrocities in those ethnic areas and always justifies the need to rule the country by saying that the country is still at the unrest situation since it took over the power from previous regime led by Ne Win.

The plights of the non-Burma ethnic nationalities in Shan States, Karenni State, Karen State and Mon State evidence solidly the act of the regime to uproot the ethnic minorities in those areas.

All the projects implemented under the regime are used as a tool to control the areas in the name of "development". The explains the regimes' long term strategy of systematic ethnic cleansing. In many cases, the local communities were not even consulted, but were forcibly relocated and often killed instead.

The Karen Rivers Watch (KRW) was formed in order to educate the communities of any development scheme, to actively find other alternative solution that are environmentally sustainable to meet their needs, and to be able to materialize these plans when there is a just and democratic government on Burma.

The KRW was established on the basis that Karen People are well aware of any development project which will effect their lives and are determined to find ways to take part in any decision that will effect their way of life.

The Karen Rivers Watch (KRW) was established on June 28, 2003 with the collaboration of 6 Karen social organization which are active in the areas for their respective issues- women, children, community development, health and youth- and other 25 individuals to educate the local community and international community of any development projects to be done on the rivers home to the Karen and in the Karen State.

The KRW focuses on the effects of mega projects on rivers in the Karen State in the field of social, political, economics, environmental and cultural.

KRW is a forum for social, environmental, development and self-determination issues. KRW believes that the current regime exploits the development issue for its iron rule on the country and unwilling to resolve the country's core problem - the ethnic issue. Instead it uses the development issue to be part of its tools for it control of the ethnic areas.