Bridging the Housing Land and Property Gap

Of the many challenging issues that will require resolution within the peace processes currently underway between the government of Myanmar and various ethnic groups in the country, few will be as complex, sensitive and yet vital than the issues comprising housing, land and property (HLP) rights. Viewed in terms of the rights of the sizable internally displaced person (IDP) and refugee populations who will be affected by the eventual peace agreements, and within the broader political reform process, HLP rights will need to form a key part of all of the ongoing moves to secure a sustainable peace, and be a key ingredient within all activities dedicated to ending displacement in Myanmar today […]

Access Denied: Land Rights and Ethnic Conflict in Burma

The reform process in Burma/Myanmar1 by the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein has raised hopes that a long overdue solution can be found to more than 60 years of devastating civil war. Burma’s ethnic minority groups have long felt marginalized and discriminated against, resulting in a large number of ethnic armed opposition groups fighting the central government – dominated by the ethnic Burman majority – for ethnic rights and autonomy. The fighting has taken place mostly in Burma’s borderlands where ethnic minorities are most concentrated […]

Statement by Local Residents at Ramree Island Regarding Shwe Gas Project, Deep Sea Port, and Oil and Gas Pipeline

Construction of Daewoo’s Shwe gas project, as well as CNPC’s Maday deep sea port and oil and gas pipeline have damaged our (local people’s) livelihoods and environment in Kyauk Phu Township since 2009. Additionally, there has been ongoing forcible land confiscation, providing no compensation or a limited amount of compensation for the confiscated rice farms and lands […]

“There is No Benefit, They Destroyed our Farmland”

This periodic update is limited in scope to provide a snapshot of overall project development. However, other impacts have been documented along the pipeline route, including environmental harms, lack of local benefits, and human rights violations, including severe human impacts in northern Shan State […]

Rampant Land Confiscation Requires Further Attention and Action from Parliamentary Committee

This past week the parliamentary Farmland Investigation Commission submitted its report on land confiscation to the parliament. The report finds that the military have taken almost 250,000 acres of land from villagers. The commission stated that they had spoken to military leaders about the confiscation, “Vice Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing […] confirmed to me that the army will return seized farmlands that are away from its bases, and they are also thinking about providing farmers with compensation.”

The investigation is a step in the right direction but there still exist very large problems the commission has not addressed, the first being that the commission only addressed land confiscated by the military. Although the military has been involved in land confiscations they are not the only perpetrators.

An example of the shortcomings of the commission’s report is the fact that the Letpadaung copper mine is not mentioned by the commission because the land was not confiscated outright by the military, although it is a joint venture with the military owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEH). Additionally the Letpadaung Inquiry Commission headed by Aung San Suu Kyi charged with investigating the abuses that took place has delayed releasing its findings for a third straight time […]

Losing Ground: Land Conflicts and Collective Action in Eastern Myanmar

Analysis of KHRG’s field information gathered between January 2011 and November 2012 in seven geographic research areas in eastern Myanmar indicates that natural resource extraction and development projects undertaken or facilitated by civil and military State authorities […]

Land Protest Leaves One Dead, Dozens Injured

One policeman is dead and dozens of police and protesters were injured following clashes that broke out on Tuesday over efforts to end a demonstration by farmers demanding the return of confiscated farmland.

According to local officials in Maubin Township, Irrawaddy Division, 27 police and 15 farmers were injured in the melee that erupted after police moved in to break up the protest at around 6 pm on Tuesday […]

Burma’s Ethnic Areas Too Volatile for Foreign Investment

In the same week that China announced that the Shwe oil and gas pipeline that runs across Burma will be completed in May, a report from the Transnational Institute and Burma Centre Netherlands, Developing Disparity: Regional Investment in Burma’s Borderlands, warns that foreign investment in ethnic areas has the potential to exacerbate ethnic tensions and disempower local communities.

The completion of the 700-mile Shwe dual oil and gas pipeline will conclude the opening chapter of a project that has created a platform for a plethora of human rights abuses. Transporting oil and gas from the Bay of Bengal, the pipeline starts in Arakan State, and passes through Magway and Mandalay Divisions and Shan State, before finishing in Yunnan province, China. While the military controlled company, the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise will gain up to $29 billion over the next 30 years through sale of oil and gas to China, the project has already negatively affected communities across Burma, as the Ta’ang Students and Youth Organization recently documented in Ta’ang areas of Shan State […]

Seven Charged Over Inle Lake Hotel Zone Protest

Villagers who say the government confiscated their land to build a hotel complex in Nyaungshwe township, Shan State, have been charged with obstruction following a protest demonstration. If convicted, they face up to six months in prison or a fine.

Seven local residents face charges in Nyaungshwe township, near Taunggyi and the major tourist destination of Inle Lake, where land is being cleared for the hotel zone. They are U Zaw Min, U Thein Tun Oo, Daw Khin Win, U Kyaw Sein, U Aung Myint, U Chway Gal and U Aung Kyaw Myo from Inngyinkon and Kanbe villages. Nyaungshwe township administrator U Soe Win Maung accused them of incitement to impede administrative tasks […]

Developing Disparity: Regional Investment in Burma’s Borderlands

Unless foreign direct investment in Burma’s war-torn borderlands is refocused towards people-centered development, it is likely to deepen disparity between the region’s most neglected peoples and Burma’s new military, business and political elite and exacerbate a decades-long civil war.

Burma has entered a pivotal stage in its political and economic development. The advent of a new quasi-civilian government has raised the prospect of fundamental reforms […]