land confiscation

Villagers from Hpa-an Township have appealed for the second time in a letter sent to President U Thein Sein for the government’s land confiscation commission to investigate claims that their lands were illegally taken by government authorities. The villagers, from Phakat, sent their latest letter to the President on June 11. Phakat villagers said that 79 plots of land were…

Government officials, from Nay Pyi Taw, working for the land confiscation investigation commission team and led by Dr. Htay Win were in Hpa-an last week on a fact finding mission. The investigation team met with landowners who alleged their land had been confiscated. Local farmers confirmed that the Nay Pyi Taw investigation officials called them to the Hap-an District administration…

Following a number of reports and demands made to the Burma Army chief-of-staff for their confiscated lands to be returned to them, 70 farmers from Yay Twin Gone village tract, Twantay Township, have won the right to work their land. Local sources said that farmers have been fighting to have their confiscation land returned to them since early April. On…

Padoh Kwe Htoo Win, the Karen National Union’s general secretary, in an exclusive interview with Karen News explains his organization position on development and land ownership. “Everyone wants development but when there is development, there is always a price to pay. Do you want roads, if you want roads, you will have to cut down trees. Do you want electricity,…

Saw Albert, the field director of the Karen Human Rights Group, in an exclusive interview with Karen News, said that since Burma’s 2010 election, changes in the government’s administration has allowed a lot of business and development projects to come into the country that are stealing land from ethnic villagers’. “Many people think that Burma has opened up and the…

The once forested slopes of the hills around Kyeik Pe Lor village are now surrounded by rubber trees or burnt black in preparation for the planting of more rubber trees. Forests have been burnt to the ground. The burnt land once was part of the villager’s rotation rice farming, but now has been taken over by a company for a…

Farmers in Karen State have been told to apply for land concession of their farmland that were either confiscated or were sold off by officials in the previous military government before the 2010 national election. From February this year farmers can now apply to village administration offices to get back the use of their ‘stolen’ land. Farmers in Hpa-an area…

A new report – Losing Ground – by the Karen Human Rights Group documenting the land grabs by the Burma Army in Karen State was released this week in Bangkok at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Thailand. The report highlights cases of the Burma Army taking land in areas of Karen State, even though a ceasefire agreement was signed between…

Despite ceasefire arrangements villagers in Karen State are worried that unscrupulous local officials will force them off their farmland and business interests wanting the land for development projects. Recent cases of confiscated land in the Tontay Township region have seen local politicians take up the case on behalf of the villagers. Last week the Karen People’s Party said that it…

A new report by Arakan Oil Watch (AOW) called “Danger Zone” alleges that a planned Chinese industrial zone threatens the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in Arakan State as well as Burma’s second largest mangrove forest. Arakan Oil Watch (AOW) is a community-based, non-governmental organization monitoring the impact of multinational oil and gas projects on locals inside Burma.…