"Two hydropower dam projects proposed on the Laymyo River in Chin and Rakhine states would negatively affect more than 20,000 people, according to Chin Rivers Watch (CRW). The dams on the Laymyo—one near Ko Phe She village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township and one near Sai Din village in Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U Township—have been under consideration since 2007. They were initially backed by neighboring Bangladesh, and set to be built by the Chinese company Datang. The projects were put on pause in 2014. In 2016, after the current National League for Democracy government came to power, the French government allocated US$1 million for a feasibility study on the Laymyo dams, which was carried out by the Belgian-French company Tractebel-Engie. In a press conference in Yangon on November 4, CRW representatives said that the feasibility study had again been resumed. CRW secretary Mang Za Hkop said that the pursuit of such mega development projects was inappropriately given the current political circumstances in Burma. “We don’t want the government to start projects like this until protection laws have been drawn up for ethnic rights and citizens’ rights,” Mang Za Hkop, the CRW secretary, said..."