Disputed Territory: Mon Farmers’ Fight Against Unjust Land Acquisition and Barriers to Their Progress

Over the years HURFOM has produced a number of accounts highlighting the hardships faced by Mon farmers who became victims of land confiscation or unjust land acquisition. In this report HURFOM follows-up on previously documented abuses and concentrates on an emerging new trend: farmers’ active and collective pursuits for rights to their land.

Disputed Territory aims to elaborate on the activities of and express solidarity with farmers who are resolutely, and in some cases for the first time, seeking justice regarding their land […]

HURFOM Releases “Disputed Territory” to Highlight Unjust Land Acquisition in Mon Areas

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) has released a report titled “Disputed Territory: Mon farmers’ fight against unjust land acquisition and barriers to their progress,” to illustrate contemporary struggles against past and on-going land disputes. Drawing from almost 100 interviews conducted in Ye, Yebyu, and Kyaikmayaw townships, the report presents cases of land confiscation and abuse in Mon areas and elevates the voices of farmers who are actively pursuing justice […]

Bitter Pills: Breaking the Silence Surrounding Drug Problems in the Mon Community

In late 2012 the New Mon State Party (NMSP) initiated a vigorous anti-drugs campaign throughout various Mon communities in Burma. Arrests of numerous drug smugglers were made, drug-using youth were sent to NMSP rehabilitation centres, and signs were erected in villages calling on residents to resist and combat drug use. This wave of action brought an issue to the table that had thus far been surrounded by silence from relevant authorities. Prior to this, domestic and international discussions of Burma’s drug problems had largely been restricted to regions in Upper Burma, in particular Shan State. However, NMSP action highlighted that drugs were also prevalent in Mon communities and were being abused by Mon youth […]

New HURFOM Report Highlights Use and Trading of Drugs in the Mon Community

The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released a report on drug problems in the Mon community, drawing on testimony from 140 individuals. The report aims to give a preliminary account of drug use and trading in Mon populations, exploring issues that range from the causes of rising youth drug use to the New Mon State Party’s (NMSP) recent anti-drugs campaign. HURFOM’s aim is to encourage a new focus on the issue, breaking a long-held silence to call for collaborative action from all relevant authorities […]

Destination Unknown: Hope and Doubt Regarding IDP Resettlement in Mon State

The growing optimism surrounding Burma’s political and social transitions has begun to be accompanied by ambitions to resettle displaced communities along the country’s border with Thailand. As the notion and its attendant proposals continue to proliferate, it seems timely to assess how the communities directly affected by this prospect feel about resettlement […]

New Report Highlights Mon IDP Perspectives on Resettlement

This week, the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) released a report featuring the voices of 61 Mon internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled from human rights violations in southern Burma, also known as Myanmar. The report analyzes testimonies regarding perspectives of resettlement and the current situation in their IDP communities, and revealed that just under half of interviewees who discussed relocation were willing to move (47%), while the others wanted to remain in their current villages (53%) […]

Burma’s Democratic Facade: Human Right Abuses Continued

In Burma (also known as Myanmar), the new President Thein Sein (former Gen. Thein Sein) has attempted to move towards democratization or a democratic transition, by establishing a dialogue with pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and allowed her party […]

Burma’s Navy Attacks on Civilians’ Livelihood

A Report on Land Confiscation and Human Rights Violations on Kywe Thone Nyi Ma Island, Yebyu Township, Tenasserim Division

Although Burma’s new supposedly civilian-led government has been in power since March 2011, human rights violations and abuses are still committed by the troops of Burmese Army, which receive backing from the current ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) […]

Laid Waste: Human Rights along the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay Gas Pipeline

A 100-page report that details abuses along the entire length of an overland pipeline that traverses nearly half the length of Burma’s southern peninsula. Laid Waste also details abuses committed by Burma’s military regime as it has sought to construct, maintain and protect the Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline.