This Situation Update describes events occurring in Thandaunggyi Township, Toungoo District during the period between April and June 2014, including land confiscation and access to education, healthcare and livelihoods: The Burma/Myanmar government provided 1,000 kyat (US $0.97) in A--- village for each student; however the teacher did not pay out the money to the students, saying that she had paid out the money for the cost of transporting school books...There are some mid-wives and medics provided by the Burma/Myanmar government who visit villagers in Maung Nwe Gyi village tract, Kon Tain

Land tenure rights and food security for all farmers in Burma has been described by Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Tun Win as one of the top priorities of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

“Our government wishes to give back land to the rightful owners,” said Tun Win, referring to the smallholder farmers who still make up the bulk of Burma’s population. He was speaking to reporters from his office on Tuesday.

Land grabbing is an urgent concern for people in Tanintharyi Division, and
ultimately one of national and international concern, as tens of thousands of people are being displaced
for the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Dawei lies within Myanmar’s (Burma) southernmost
region, the Tanintharyi Division, which borders Mon State to the North, and Thailand to the East, on
territory that connects the Malay Peninsula with mainland Asia. This highly populated and prosperous

Hpapun (Mutraw) District

"This Situation Update describes events occurring in Dwe Lo Township, Hpapun District between August and October 2015, including forced labour, land confiscation, and livelihood issues.

- Soldiers from Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion (IB) #96 in Dwe Lo Township, forced villagers in A--- valley to transport their supplies and the only compensation the villagers were given was petrol.

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project at the Letpadaung Hills, in Monywa. The commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there.

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project at the Letpadaung Hills, in Monywa. The commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there...

As Myanmar’s junta prepared to step down from government, the military set about seizing public assets and natural resources to ensure its economic control in a new era of democratic rule. Guns, Cronies and Crops details the collusion at the heart of operations carried out by Myanmar’s armed forces in northeastern Shan State. Large swathes of land were taken from farming communities in the mid-2000s and handed to companies and political associates to develop rubber plantations.

This Photo Set shows development projects including road and bridge construction in Win Yay Township, Dooplaya District between December 2014 and January 2015. These development projects destroyed villagers’ fruit and rubber plantations. Villagers report having not yet received any compensation for their destroyed lands.

1. Introduction 1;
2. Historical Context and Current Implications of the State Taking Control
of People, Land and Livelihood 2;
2.1. Under the Democratically Elected Government 2;
2.1.1. The Land Nationalization Act 1953 2;
2.1.2. The Agricultural Lands Act 1953 2;
3. Under the Revolutionary Council (1962-1974) 2;
3.1. The Tenancy Act 1963 3;
3.2. The Protection of the Right of Cultivation Act, 1963 3;
4. The State Gains Further Control over the Livelihoods of Households 3;

...Through research on Myanmar, we argue that in authoritarian settings where legality has drastically declined, the starting point for cause lawyering lies in advocacy for law itself, in advocating for the regular application of law’s rules.

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)...
Text box extracted from "Access Denied -
Land Rights and Ethnic Conflict in Burma" by TNI/BCN,
May 2013 at http://www.burmalibrary.org/sites/burmalibrary.org/files/obl/docs15/TNI-...

This Incident Report describes the confiscation of villagers’ land committed by Border Guard Force (BGF) Cantonment Area Commander Kya Aye, who oversees Battalion #1015 and Battalion #1016, and Cantonment Area Supervisor U Kyaw Hein on May 1st 2015. They then resold the land to the Steel Stone Group to be used for road construction and infrastructure development. The villagers reported the incident to the Karen National Union (KNU) requesting compensation for their land and calling for restrictions on the BGF commanders’ power.