Residents Concerned as KNA Measures Land in Myanmar’s Karen State Without Prior Notice
Residents across Nabu Township in Myanmar’s Karen State are expressing deep anxiety after the Karen National Army (KNA) surveyed and measured their agricultural land without prior notice during the first week of October, according to community elders.
The KNA’s Battalion 999, led by Saw Htoo Eh Moo, the son of prominent Border Guard Force (BGF) leader Colonel Saw Chit Thu conducted the unannounced measurements.
The KNA, formed from splinter factions of the junta-aligned BGF, reportedly targets lands in Hteekwalaw, Maungmakwee, and Bote villages, where families rely entirely on farming for their livelihoods.
Land surveys have already been finalized in Bote Village and remain pending in Hteekwalaw and Maungmakwee. With no compensation figures disclosed, local landowners worry as they have no desire to sell properties they wish to preserve for future generations.
“They came and measured the land without telling us anything beforehand,” a village elder said. “When we asked, they claimed it was a development project and that they would arrange farming while local people would simply have to work the land. When we asked if we could refuse, they said we couldn’t.”
The surveyed plots include vital farmland, fishponds, and riverside cultivation areas covered by land ownership documents registered with the Karen National Union (KNU), alongside records issued by the military regime or the KNA.
Residents suspect the KNA is using community development as a pretext to establish agricultural and livestock operations while simultaneously building a new battalion base in the area.
“No one knows what the KNA will do after taking control,” another source noted. “None of us wants to sell our land; we want to preserve it for our children and grandchildren.”
In response to the encroachments, village authorities have filed formal complaints with the KNU, and residents are preparing to hold direct negotiations with relevant KNU officials and KNA leaders.
Observers note that these land acquisitions coincide with mounting international pressure and sanctions against Colonel Saw Chit Thu, his family members, and associates over notorious online scam operations and human trafficking along the Thai-Myanmar border, with reports suggesting armed groups may be seeking to relocate illicit hubs deeper into Karen State’s Dawna Mountain Range.
