Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA)

November 26, 2003

Further reduction of compensation for the confiscated lands

Farmers refuses to sign promising that they are giving their lands to the military government

Although the Burmese Army last month promised to pay compensation cost to numbers of fruit and rubber trees to the landowners for their confiscated lands in Mon State, but now the army makes further reduction of compensated cost and will pay only Kyat 4000.00 (4 US Dollar) per acre of land.

Last month, before the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur went to Burma, the local battalions of Burmese Army called a meeting with the local landowners who lost their lands due to the confiscation and discussed for the compensation. They promised in the meeting that they would compensate with money on the numbers of trees.

In the promise, the Burmese Army would pay 250 Kyat per one tree, but now they changed their decision and declared they would pay only Kyat 4000.00 per acre of lands.

If the army pays the compensation cost on number of trees, the landowners could get more money. In one acre of land, there are about 500 rubber trees and so that the landowners would get about Kyat 125,000.00 (125 US Dollar) for one acre of land. Now, the army decided to pay them in number of acre and they will get only Kyat 4000.00 (4 US Dollar) of lands.

Some landowners are also forced by the army to sign a promising document that they are offering their lands permanently to the army. Some farmers have denied to sign while the army lied some illiterate farmers to sign on it.

Additional land confiscation was conducted by LIB No. 588 to create a village for soldiers’ families and so about 28 farmers lost their lands. Those 28 farmers are forced to sign that they are offering their lands to the army but 3 farmers have constantly refused to sign.

Accordingly to a report, NO LAND TO FARM, released by Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), about 8000 acres of lands in various part of Mon area have been confiscated during 1998 to 2002. Further confiscation of civilians’ lands in the southern part of Burma have continuously happened under the regime’s ‘self-reliance’ policy that encouraging all army battalions to find their own income.