Land rights
Individual Documents
Sub-title:
Some worry that despite financial and social costs, much of the electricity proposed dam will generate will be exported.
Description:
"Myanmar government officials claim a hydroelectricity project along the Tanintharyi River could significantly benefit the Southeast Asian nation. But new research by a trio of human rights organisations offers a dark contrast to that bright picture. Almost 7,000 people could be displaced if a dam is built along the river, according to a joint report, Blocking a Bloodline, by Candle Light, Southern Youth, and the Tarkapaw Youth Group.
"These approximately 7,000 people will lose everything they know, including their way of life, community and kinship, ancestral history, local use of natural resources, and their lands," Human Rights Watch's Asia Deputy Director Phil Robertson wrote in an email to Al Jazeera. "If this [project] goes forward, [the villagers] will mark the first day of their displacement as the start of the worst period of their lives, when their rights were trod on by the Myanmar government and they were shuffled off to a wholly inadequate resettlement area where quality land, water, services, and support are entirely lacking."
The reports suggest the project will alter the livelihoods of the Karen, the area's indigenous people. This dam could "irreversibly alter the lives of up to 32,000 people living along it," the authors write. They predict that not only could up to 32 upstream villages be displaced, but 58,500 hectares of land would likely be destroyed..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera"
Date of publication:
2019-08-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights and international relations, Land rights, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Burma's economic relations with China
Language:
more
Description:
“ၦၤလၢတၢ်မၤဟးဂီၤအဟံၣ်ခဲအံၤသ့ၣ်တဖၣ် ကီၢ်ပဒိၣ်ဟ့ၣ်စ့အီၣ်လိးလီၤႉ ပတဟံးအီၤတမ့ၢ်ဘၣ်ႉ ဟ့ၣ်၀ဲထဲတၢ်သုးလီၢ်သုး ကျဲအလဲန့ၣ်လီၤႉ ဘၣ်မနုၤဃိ ၦၤထံဖိကီၢ်ဖိသ့ၣ်တဖၣ်တသုးဘၣ်လဲၣ်န့ၣ် ကျဲမုၢ်၀ဲန့ၣ်အကျိၤဆီ တလဲသးအဃိန့ၣ်လီၤႉ ပတီၣ်ထီၣ်လၢကဘှါရှဲန့ၢ်ၦၤအဘျီတဖၣ်အဘီလျီၤႉ အ၀ဲသ့ၣ်တကပၤတဲ၀ဲလၢပဟံၣ်လီၢ်န့ၣ်အိၣ် တလၢကွံာ်၀ဲထံကီၢ် အဟီၣ်ခိၣ်လီၢ်အဃိ မၤဟးဂီၤကွံာ်၀ဲန့ၣ်လီၤႉ မၤ၀ဲလၢအတဖိးမံဒီးတၢ်ဘျၢဘၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤႉ ပကဲကမျၢၢ်ဘၣ်ဒိလၢၦၤလီၤႉ ၀့ၢ်အံၤပၢပြးခိၣ်ဟ့ၣ်လီၤတၢ်ကလုၢ် ဟဲမၤဟးဂီၤ၀ဲလၢဂီၤခီ(၅)နၣ်ရံၣ်လၢတၢ်န့ၣ်အဃိ ပဟံးပက့ၤ လိာ်ဘၢလိာ်ကွၢ်က့ၤ အ၀ဲသ့ၣ်လီၤႉ..."
စးအဲၣ်ဆူ
Source/publisher:
KIC (Karen Information Center)
Date of publication:
2018-12-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land use in Burma, Land rights
Language:
Sgaw Karen
more
Description:
''For decades, Myanmar was governed by a small military elite, accused of acting solely in their own interests. The introduction of a new constitution in 2008 was a dramatic and significant development, creating 14 new state and region governments and parliaments and the promise of democratic participation by a more diverse range of actors. At its heart, democratization in Myanmar means transforming a top-down, autocratic regime into a system that is responsive to the needs and aspirations of democratic constituencies at many levels—local, regional, and national—and establishing effective mechanisms of public administration to achieve them. The creation of the state and region governments thus marks the beginning of a process of decentralization with vast potential for greater participation by citizens and greater responsiveness to regional and local needs. On October 31, The Asia Foundation published a new edition of its flagship report, State and Region Governments in Myanmar, reflecting on five years of progress in Myanmar’s decentralization. The report finds both challenges ahead and grounds for cautious optimism, with encouraging signs of increasing accountability, responsiveness to local needs, and greater public participation in governance...''
Richard Batcheler
Source/publisher:
Asia Foundation
Date of publication:
2018-11-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Land rights, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Laws, decrees and regulations relating to the parliamentary process (commentary)
Language:
English
more
Description:
''Over the past decade, Displacement Solutions has undertaken extensive research aimed at
shedding light on the numerous housing, land and property (HLP) rights issues facing the
people of Myanmar. Through these efforts DS aims to build the capacity of the people of
Myanmar to exercise and enforce their HLP rights. To this end, DS provides practical
guidance to citizens and their governments through the development of institutional and
policy frameworks, guiding principles and practical steps which seek to reduce, eliminate
and redress HLP rights abuses.
The following eleven books and reports were published with the intent of informing and
aiding the Myanmar government, key ethnic actors, humanitarian organisations and
citizens on the importance of HLP rights within Myanmar. The documents outlined here
are just a portion of DS' research efforts concerning the country. Many of our other papers
and reports on more sensitive themes have intentionally been kept internal by the
organisations and institutions for whom they were prepared.
These publications cover topics spanning national policy development on land grabbing and
speculation, recommendations for the development of a comprehensive HLP rights
framework within Myanmar, the manner in which HLP rights can be addressed during
peace negotiations as well as land rights in relation to mine action. The most recent report
outlines the need for the government of Myanmar to establish a Myanmar National Climate
Land Bank to pre-emptively address the threats of climate displacement.
Throughout the past ten years, DS has had the privilege of working with an extraordinary
group of legal experts, local groups and donors, and would like to thank them all once again
for their collective efforts to make Myanmar a country where housing, land and property
rights are enjoyed in full by everyone.
Finally, a special thanks to Hannah Crothers and Amy Pattle from Monash Law School for
their assistance in preparing this overview...''
Scott Leckie
Source/publisher:
Displacement Solutions
Date of publication:
2018-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to land, property and planning (commentary), Law and policy on land in Burma/Myanmar, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Land rights, Land rights, Housing, Right to Adequate Housing
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
243.14 KB
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Description:
''The sun sets over a village in rural Myanmar,
where a group of men and women discuss
a recent announcement they have seen
posted in the distant Township Office.
The notice refers to a company’s claims on
certain parcels of land that the villagers’
families have been cultivating for decades.
According to the notice, such land is now
officially classified as vacant; some of the
land has already been fenced off and used to
cultivate rubber. The deadline for objections
mentioned in the letter had passed long
before any of the affected farmers realised
what was going on. Some of the villagers,
who used to cultivate this land but were
displaced, live elsewhere and are unaware
of the situation. What is to be done?
The need for HLP restitution
Ten years after the enactment of Myanmar’s
new Constitution in 2008 and the start of
the period of government transition, the
quest for peace and for real and effective
remedies for past and present land grabbing
and displacement continues despite some
positive – albeit tentative – steps being taken
by the government. During the civil wars,
entire villages were forcibly displaced,
with people also suffering forced labour
and gender-based violence.1
The legal
framework continues to be a complicated mix
of colonial-era legislation and newer laws,
with the latter clearly designed to favour
private investment and widespread land
acquisition without adequate safeguards
to protect the rights of farmers and their
families.2
Laws governing land acquisition
disproportionately favour the State, the
military and companies which have close
relationships with or are otherwise favoured
by these entities, and pay less attention to the
rights of affected people and communities...''
José Arraiza and Scott Leckie
Source/publisher:
Displacement Solutions
Date of publication:
2018-02-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to land, property and planning (commentary), Law and policy on land in Burma/Myanmar, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Land rights
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
334.75 KB
more
Description:
"In September 2011, residents of Je--- village, Kawkareik Township told KHRG that they feared soldiers under Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1022 and LIBs #355 and #546 would soon complete the confiscation of approximately 500 acres of land in their community in order to develop a large camp for Battalion #1022 and homes for soldiers? families. According to the villagers, the area has already been surveyed and the Je--- village head has informed local plantation and paddy farm owners whose lands are to be confiscated. The villagers reported that approximately 167 acres of agricultural land, including seven rubber plantations, nine paddy farms, and seventeen betelnut and durian plantations belonging to 26 residents of Je--- have already been surveyed, although they expressed concern that more land would be expropriated in the future. The Je--- residents said that the village head had told them rubber plantation owners would be compensated according to the number of trees they owned, but that the villagers were collectively refusing compensation and avoiding attending a meeting at which they worried they would be ordered to sign over their land. The villagers that spoke with KHRG said they believed the Tatmadaw intended to take over their land in October after the end of the annual monsoon, and that this would seriously undermine livelihoods in a community in which many villagers depended on subsistence agriculture on established land. This bulletin is based on information collected by KHRG researchers in September and October 2011, including five interviews with residents of Je--- village, 91 photographs of the area, and a written record of lands earmarked for confiscation."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2011-10-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land rights, Tenure insecurity in Burma (including land grabbing), Food Security and militarisation in Burma, Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
452.67 KB
more
Description:
"According to COHRE?s new report, ?Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Land Rights in Burma?, land confiscation by Government forces is responsible for many serious housing, land and property (HLP) rights violations in Burma. These abuses occur during military counter-insurgency operations; to clear land for the construction of new army bases; to make way for infrastructure development projects; to facilitate natural resource extraction; and to cater for the vested interests of business.
?Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Land Rights in Burma? also reveals that control of land is a key strategy for the military regime, and a means of promoting the on-going expansion of the Burmese Army (Tatmadaw). In 1998, the SPDC issued a directive instructing Tatmadaw battalions to become self-sufficient in rice and other basic provisions. This prompted the Tatmadaw to ?live off the land? by appropriating resources (food, cash, labour, land) from the civilian population. This policy has exacerbated conflict and displacement across much of rural Burma.
The Thai Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and its partners estimate that during 2007, approximately 76,000 people have been newly displaced by armed conflict and associated human rights abuses. The majority of new incidents of forced migration and village destruction were concentrated in northeast Karen State and adjacent areas of Pegu Division. The total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Eastern Burma in October 2007 was 503,000. These included 295,000 people in ceasefire zones, 99,000 IDPs ?in hiding? in the jungle and 109,000 in relocation sites. The estimates exclude hundreds of thousands of IDPs in other parts of Burma (especially Kachin and Shan States, and the west of the country, as well as in some parts of Karen State). Including these figures would bring the total to over a million internally displaced people.
COHRE?s Du Plessis said, "More than one million people have been dispossessed and are internally displaced in Burma -- not because of a natural disaster, but due to their own government?s calculated and brutal actions. We have here a state monopoly which forcibly transfers property, income and assets, from rural, non-Burman ethnic nationalities to an elite, military Government. The HLP violations found in Burma today are the result of short-sighted and predatory policies that date back to the early years of Independence, and to the period of colonial rule. These problems can only be resolved through substantial and sustained change in Burma. Political transition should include improved access to a range of fundamental rights, as enshrined in international law and conventions -- including respect for HLP rights."
Source/publisher:
Coalition on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
Date of publication:
2007-12-05
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Land rights, Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to land, property and planning (commentary)
Language:
English
more
Description:
Introduction:
"The following analysis has been compiled to bring attention to a wider audience of many of
the problems facing the people of Burma, especially in Arakan State. The analysis focuses
particularly on the increase in land confiscation resulting from intensifying military
deployment in order to magnify security around a number of governmental developments
such as the Shwe Gas, Kaladan, and Hydropower projects in western Burma of Arakan State...Conclusion: "The SPDC?s ongoing parallel policy of increasing militarisation while increased forced land
confiscation to house and feed the increasing troop numbers causes widespread problems
throughout Burma. By stripping people of the land upon which peopl?s livelihoods are based,
whilst providing only desultory compensation if any at all, many citizens face threats to their
food security as well as water shortages, a decrease or abolition of their income, eradicating
their ability to educate their children in order to create a sustainable income source in the
future. Additionally, the policy of using forced labour in the Government?s construction and
development projects, coupled with the disastrous environmental effects of many of these
projects, continues to create severe health problems throughout the country whilst
simultaneously stifling the local economy so that varied or sustainable work is difficult to
become engaged in. All of this often leads to people fleeing the country in search of a better
life."
Source/publisher:
All Arakan Students? and Youths? Congress (AASYC)
Date of publication:
2010-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2010-06-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land rights, Shwe gas field and pipeline -- reports and articles, Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Land confiscation for military, commercial and other purposes
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.34 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"...SPDC control of Thaton District is fully consolidated, aided by the DKBA and a variety of other civilian and parastatal organisations. These forces are responsible for perpetrating a variety of exploitative abuses, which include a litany of demands for ?taxation? and provision of resources, as well as forced labour on development projects and forced recruitment into the DKBA. Villagers also report ongoing abuses related to SPDC and DKBA ?counter insurgency? efforts, including the placement of unmarked landmines in civilian areas, conscription of people as porters and ?human minesweepers? and harassment and violent abuse of alleged KNLA supporters. This report includes information on abuses during the period of April to October 2009..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F20)
Date of publication:
2009-11-25
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Land rights, Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...The technical mine information below was obtained from KNLA sources and was current as of early 1994, though it is apparently still current. The notes regarding effect on civilians are mainly from KHRG observations. Abbreviations: SLORC = State Law & Order Restoration Council, the junta ruling Burma; KNLA = Karen National Liberation Army, the Karen resistance force; DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, a Karen faction allied with SLORC..."
"...The most common landmine used is the American M-76, of which the Burmese now manufacture their own copies. Almost all of these found used to be American-made, but now more are the Burmese copies. They are the "classic" landmine design, made of heavy-duty metal, cylindrical, about 2" diameter and 4-5" high, with a screw-in top the diameter of a pencil which extends a couple of inches above the body of the mine - this screw-in top is surmounted by a plunger the size of a pencil eraser which is what sets off the mine. The safety pin goes through the plunger, and can be used to rig a tripwire. However, most common use is to bury the mine with only the plunger above ground, generally hidden by leaf litter. The body of the mine is Army green, stencilled with yellow lettering: for example "LTM-76 A.P. MINE / DI-LOT 48/84" (copied off a recovered SLORC mine). "A.P." means Anti-Personnel. This mine is designed to kill or maim people. The person who steps on it is almost certainly killed, and anyone in a 5-metre radius is wounded..."
These informal notes were prepared in response for specific requests for information on landmine use. They are not intended to present a complete picture of landmine use.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
Date of publication:
1996-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Land rights, Village and urban resistance, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"This paper examines repression and state?society conflict in Burma through the
lens of rural and urban resistance strategies. It explores networks of
noncompliance through which civilians evade and undermine state control over
their lives, showing that the military regime?s brutal tactics represent not control,
but a lack of control. Outside agencies ignore this state?society struggle over
sovereignty at their peril: ignoring the interplay of interventions with local politics
and militarisation, and claiming a ?humanitarian neutrality? which is impossible in
practice, risks undermining the very civilians interventions are supposed to help,
while facilitating further state repression. Greater honesty and awareness in
interventions is required, combined with greater solidarity with villagers?
resistance strategies."...
Keywords: peasant resistance; humanitarian policy; Karen; Kayin; Burma;
Myanmar
Kevin Malseed
Source/publisher:
"Journal of Peasant Studies" (originally published by Yale Agrarian Studies Colloquium, 2008-04-25 and Karen Human Rights Group, 2008-11-10)
Date of publication:
2009-07-22
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
General/Strategic, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Land rights, Food Security and militarisation in Burma, Village and urban resistance, Discrimination against the Karen, Right to self-determination: specialist NGOs and academics (global, regional and Burma/Myanmar)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
203.29 KB
more
Description:
"...SLORC continues to show no remorse whatsoever for its continually expanding program of civilian forced labour throughout Burma. Roads, railways, dams, army camps, tourist sites, an international airport, pagodas, schools - virtually everything which is built in rural Burma is now built and maintained with the forced labour of villagers, as well as their money and building materials. Forced labour as porters fuels the SLORC?s military campaigns, while forced labour farming land confiscated by the military, digging fishponds, logging and sawing timber for local Battalions fills the pockets of SLORC military officers and SLORC money-laundering front companies such as Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. Even farming one?s own land is more and more becoming a form of forced labour, as SLORC continues to increase rice quotas which farmers must hand over for pitiful prices. Even after a year like 1994, when record floods destroyed crops in much of the country, the quotas must be paid - if not, the farmer is arrested and the Army takes his land, only to resell it or set up yet another forced labour farm. 1995 has seen very small harvests, increased confiscation and looting of rice and money from the farmers, 40 million people struggling to avoid starvation, and SLORC agreeing to sell a million tonnes of rice to Russia for profit - rice which it has confiscated from village farmers for 50 Kyat a basket, or for nothing..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #95-C4)
Date of publication:
1995-08-04
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Forced relocation of Karen, Land rights, Armed conflict, adminstration, development and investment
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
19.25 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"...The State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) junta ruling Burma is now using mass forced relocations of entire geographic regions as a major element of military strategy. While this is not new to SLORC tactics, they have seldom or never done it to such an extent or so systematically before. The large-scale relocations began in Papun District of Karen State in December 1995 and January 1996, when up to 100 Karen villages were ordered to move within a week or be shot [see "Forced Relocation in Papun District", KHRG #96-11, 4/3/96]. These were all the villages in the region between Papun and the Salween River, an area about 50-60 km. north-south and 30 km. east-west. Most of them were ordered to move to sites beside military camps at Papun, Kaw Boke, Par Haik and Pa Hee Kyo, where SLORC was gathering people to do forced labour on the Papun-Bilin and Papun-Kyauk Nyat roads. However, the main reasons for the forced relocation were to cut off all possible support for Karen guerrilla columns in the area, most of which has only been SLORC-controlled since mid-1995, and to create a free-fire zone which would also block the flow of refugees from inside Karen State to the Thai border. Recently, though, SLORC troops in the area have limited their movements rather than combing the area, allowing some villagers to trickle back to their villages. This may be partly because of rainy season or because of the current SLORC-Karen National Union ceasefire talks, but it is probably largely because SLORC realised it could not control the result - people were fleeing into hiding in the jungle, some were fleeing to Thailand, but none were heading for the relocation camps.
This has not stopped SLORC from conducting new and larger relocation campaigns. Starting in March 1996 it began an unprecedented forced relocation campaign in central and southern Shan State, covering the entire region from the Salween River westward for 120 km. to Lai Kha and Mong Kung, and from Lang Ker and Mong Nai in the south (about 60 km. north of the Thai border) northward to the area west of the ruby mines at Mong Hsu - a total area of 120 km. east-west and 180 km. north-south. [See "Forced Relocation in Central Shan State", KHRG #96-23, 25/6/96.] In this area, between March and June almost every village away from towns and major roads has been forced to move. Estimates are that at least 400-500 villages are included, a total of 60,000-80,000 people. Information gathered by both the Shan Human Rights Foundation and KHRG already includes the names of 320 villages, as well as 22 other village tracts (averaging 5-15 villages per tract) for which lists of village names are not yet available, in Kun Hing, Mong Nai, Nam Sang, Lai Kha, Mong Kung, Lang Ker, Mong Nong, and Kay See townships..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #96-C3)
Date of publication:
1996-07-18
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Forced relocation of Karen, Land rights
Language:
English
Format :
html
Size:
32.47 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Villagers in northern Pa?an District of central Karen State say their livelihoods are under serious threat due to exploitation by SPDC military authorities and by their Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) allies who rule as an SPDC proxy army in much of the region. Villages in the vicinity of the DKBA headquarters are forced to give much of their time and resources to support the headquarters complex, while villages directly under SPDC control face rape, arbitrary detention and threats to keep them compliant with SPDC demands. The SPDC plans to expand Dta Greh (a.k.a. Pain Kyone) village into a town in order to strengthen its administrative control over the area, and is confiscating about half of the village?s productive land without compensation to build infrastructure which includes offices, army camps and a hydroelectric power dam - destroying the livelihoods of close to 100 farming families. Local villagers, who are already struggling to survive under the weight of existing demands, fear further forced labour and extortion as the project continues..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2006-F1)
Date of publication:
2006-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land rights, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
more
Description:
"While the SPDC and DKBA have both continued to utilise forced labour and extortion as means of financing local operations in Thaton, these two groups have also employed other, separate exploitive practices. The SPDC has confiscated large tracts of land belonging to local villagers and then sold it to the Max Myanmar Company for use in rubber cultivation. The DKBA, for its part, has used forced labour, arbitrarily detained and beaten villages and has also required Thaton villagers to buy calendars and religious photographs of DKBA leaders. This report documents abuses between September 2008 and January 2009..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F6)
Date of publication:
2009-04-02
Date of entry/update:
2009-10-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Introduction: "The following report has been compiled to bring to the attention of a wider
audience many of the problems facing the people of Burma, especially its many
ethnic nationalities. For many outside observers, Burma?s problems are confined
simply to the ongoing incarceration of Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
the country?s democratically elected leader, and many other political prisoners.
However, as we hope to show in the following report, this is only one of very
many human rights abuses that provide obstacles to the people?s hope for
democracy.
This report concentrates in 3 specific areas of the country – Arakan State, Mon
State and the Pa-O Area of southern Shan State. This is partly due to budget and
time constraints, but, primarily because the brutal treatment received by the
people of these areas at the hands of the military junta has received limited media
attention in the past."...Conclusion: "The SPDC?s ongoing dual policy of increasing militarization and forced land
confiscation, both to house and feed the increasing troop numbers, causes
widespread problems throughout Burma. By robbing people of the land from
which many make their livings, without any or providing only desultory
compensation, many citizens face drastic problems such as food and water
shortages, an inability to educate their children and an inability to find work.
Additionally, the policy of using forced labour in the Government?s construction
and development projects, coupled with the disastrous environmental effects of
many of these projects, continues to create severe health problems throughout
the country. All of this often leads to people fleeing the country in search of a
better life."
Source/publisher:
All Arakan Students? and Youths? Congress (AASYC), Pa-O Youth Organisation (PYO) and Mon Youth Progressive Organisation (MYPO)
Date of publication:
2009-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-04-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
2.21 MB 793.16 KB
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Description:
Abstract"
"This research was framed by a human rights approach to development as pursued by Amartya
Sen. Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development but they are the principle means of
development. The research was informed by international obligations to human rights and was placed
within a context of global pluralism and recognition of universal human dignity. The first research aim
was to study the State Peace and Development Council military regime confiscation of land and labour of
farmers in villages of fourteen townships in Rangoon, Pegu, and Irrawaddy Divisions and Arakan,
Karenni, and Shan States. Four hundred and sixty-seven individuals were interviewed to gain
understanding of current pressures facing farmers and their families. Had crops, labour, household food,
assets, farm equipment been confiscated? If so, by whom, and what reason was given for the
confiscation? Were farmers compensated for this confiscation? How did family households respond and
cope when land was confiscated? In what ways were farmers contesting the arbitrary confiscation of their
land?
A significant contribution of this research is that it was conducted inside Burma with considerable
risk for all individuals involved. People who spoke about their plight, who collected information, and who
couriered details of confiscation across the border into Thailand were at great risk of arrest. Interviews
were conducted clandestinely in homes, fields, and sometimes during the night. Because of personal
security risks there are inconsistent data sets for the townships. People revealed concerns of health,
education, lack of land tenure and livelihood. Several farmers are contesting the confiscation of their
land, but recognise that there is no rule by law or independent judiciary in Burma. Farmers and their
family members want their plight to be known internationally. When they speak out they are threatened
with detention. Their immediate struggle is to survive.
The second aim was to analyse land laws and land use in Burma from colonial times,
independence in 1948, to the present military rule by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
The third aim was to critically review international literature on land tenure and land rights with special
focus on research conducted in post-conflict, post-colonial, and post-socialist nations and how to resolve
land claims in face of no documentation. We sought ideas and practices which could inform creation of
land laws, land and property rights, in democratic transition in Burma."
Dr. Nancy Hudson-Rodd; Sein Htay
Source/publisher:
The Burma Fund
Date of publication:
2008-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-03-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Land rights
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
11.22 MB
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Description:
"...The main objective of this research is to examine housing, land, and property rights in the context of Burma?s societal transition towards a democratic polity and economy. Much has been written and discussed about property rights in their various manifestations, private, public, collective, and common in terms of ?rights?. When property rights are widely and fairly distributed, they are inseparable from the rights of people to a means of living. Yet in the contemporary world, millions of people are denied access to the land, markets, technology, money and jobs essential to creation of livelihoods (Korten, 1998). The most significant worldwide problems of unjust property rights remain those associated with landlessness, rural poverty, and inequality (Hudson-Rodd & Nyunt, 2000)..."
Nancy Hudson-Rodd
Source/publisher:
Edith Cowan University, Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
Date of publication:
2004-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2007-02-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Forced relocation of several ethnic groups, Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to land, property and planning (commentary), Land rights
Language:
English
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pdf
Size:
741.09 KB
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Description:
Summary:
"Wrong-headed agricultural and development policies, counter-insurgency activities, as well
as corruption and cronyism by the Burmese military regime, have all caused a dramatic
decrease in rice production and food security in southern Shan State over the past ten years.
The township of Mong Nai provides a good example of how food security, commonly defined
as the physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times, has
been put in a precarious condition despite the regime?s claims that it is achieving self-sufficiency
and agricultural development. In the past Mong Nai was well known for its fertile land and
abundant production of quality rice. Even though people could not make much income from
their crops, they had enough to survive. Since 1994, however, a series of national policies and
initiatives have led to a decline in rice production, the abandonment of fertile fields, and the
exodus of thousands of residents to neighbouring Thailand.
In order to implement its national rice procurement policy, the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) set up a paddy (unmilled rice) buying center in the town of Mong Nai in
1994. Farmers were forced to sell rice to the regime at depressed prices (about one quarter
of the normal market price) based on the acreage of land they customarily tended and regardless
of actual crop yields. This center, and how its quota system was implemented, disrupted
farmers? access to their own rice harvests and drove many into debt. The SPDC proudly
announced the abolishment of this system and the opening of a market-oriented economy in
2003. However, new practices have been able to ensure that the military maintains its own
stores of rice at the expense of local populations. agriculture, and led to decreased rice production and food security in the township. The
amount of rice fields under cultivation has decreased by approximately 56% since 1994
while the population has decreased by approximately 30%. The drastic decrease in upland
agriculture has practically wiped out the cultivation of sesame and the subsequent production
of sesame oil in the township, while a wide variety of beans, fruits, and other vegetables are
also not cultivated. Restrictions on trade and travel have made foodstuffs harder to get and
more expensive.
Contrary to the regime?s claims, Burma is not on the road to self-sufficiency and food security."...
Table of Contents:
Summary.2;
Background 4;
Food and Agriculture Situation Before 1994 5;
Rice Procurement Policy/the Quota System 6;
Forced Relocation 7;
Map 1: Rice Cultivation and Villages in 1994 8;
Map 2: Rice Culitvation, Remaining Villages and Confiscated Lands in 2005 9;
Land Confiscation 10;
Restricted Movement 12;
Trading Restrictions 13;
Forced Planting of Summer Paddy 13;
Conclusion: The Situation Today 15...
Appendix 1: Decrease in Rice Production in Mong Nai Township 1994-2005 16.
Source/publisher:
Shan Relief and Development Committee (SRDC)
Date of publication:
2006-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2006-01-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to food: reports of violations in Burma, Discrimination against the Shan, Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Land rights, Policies leading to food insecurity in Burma
Language:
English
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Description:
"...In the last four years, the Burmese army based in Mon State has confiscated thousands acres of farmland. The farmers whose land had been confiscated were not given any compensation. They have no opportunity to take legal actions against the army. As a result, many farmers who lost their lands left to Thailand to seek employment. Those who stayed in villages and towns became landless and jobless..." Land confiscation by the Burmese military - description, analysis and case studies.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
Date of publication:
2003-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2004-06-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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