This Situation Update describes events occurring in Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District in September 2014, including issues of land confiscation and explicit threats toward villagers. Starting in November 2010, the Tatmadaw began to confiscate A--- villagers land upon which they built houses for their soldiers’ families, as well as houses for members of the Border Guard Force (BGF) and the Karen Peace Force (KPF) and their families. Villagers complained to the A--- village head, who felt too afraid to raise the issue with the Military Operations Command (MOC) #19 General Tun Nay Lin.

President of Myanmar, U Thein Sein, announced that the government cannot give back over 30,000 acres of paddy land that the state has been using since it was confiscated by the army two decades ago. On the one hand the President ordered state and regional governments and land management committee to cooperate with members of the parliament to solve the problem of land grabbing cases. On the other hand he has announced the government cannot handover some land back.

This Situation Update describes events and issues occurring in Hlaingbwe Township, Hpa-an District during the period between April and May 2015, including a development project in which the Burma/Myanmar government built a new town on villagers’ lands, as well as healthcare and education updates...

Between 1981 and 1982, some of the A--- villagers fled to the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma/Myanmar border and left their lands behind. Between 2013 and 2015 the Burma/Myanmar government built a new town on these villagers’ lands and called it A--- Town...

This News Bulletin describes the proposed construction of a portion of the Asia Highway from Eindu to Kawkareik Town, crossing 17 different villages and one town in Hpa-an, Kyonedoe and Kawkareik townships in Dooplaya and Hpa-an districts. The Burma/Myanmar government has demarcated the route and plans to construct the road with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The planning of the project has thus far been carried out with little consultation with local communities, who remain suspicious of such projects.

This Situation Update describes events and issues occurring in Thandaunggyi and Htantabin townships, Toungoo District during the period from November 2014 to February 2015, including military activity, civilians’ situation, healthcare, education, land confiscation and landmines...

In Toungoo District, the Tatmadaw are as active as they were in the past. They send their rations to the camps once every three months. On February 12th 2015, Military Operations Command (MOC) #20 was replaced by MOC #5, bringing approximately 80 military transport vehicles with them...

The reform process in Burma/Myanmar 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...

This report provides an overview of issues related to upland smallholder land tenure. The immediate
objective of the report is to promote a shared understanding of land tenure issues by national-level
stakeholders, with a longer term objective of improving the land tenure, livelihood and food security of
upland farm families. The report is intended for government and non-government agencies, policy
makers and those impacted by policy. The report covers four main areas: status of and trends in upland

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2013 – As the Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty convened this week in Washington, DC, The World Bank Group issued the following statement:

"By 2050, the world will have two billion more people to feed. To do that, global agricultural production will need to increase by 70 percent. That calls for substantial new investment in agriculture-- in smallholders and large farms—from both the public and private sectors.

This Photo Set presents 17 still photographs taken by a local community member who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The photos were all taken in March 2012 at the Toh Boh Dam construction site in Tantabin Township within locally-defined Toungoo District. According to the community member who took these photos, more than 100 households have been relocated from the area now occupied by the dam construction site, where construction is ongoing.

...Beginning in December 2010, Burmese Navy Unit No. 43, under the
command of Ka Dike-based government navy regional command head
quarters, began to confiscate the rubber plantations and household plots of
villagers on Kywe Thone Nyi Ma Island, Yebyu Township, Tennaserim
Division. Since then, all land on which red signboards were placed by the
navy has been confiscated. This report documents the confiscation of over
1,000 acres of land on Kywe Thone Nyi Ma Island. However, HURFOM found

This report covers much of SE Asia, with specific references to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Myanmar....."...In Myanmar, the ceasefire negotiations and move
toward democracy have opened the door to a
virtual gold rush for foreign investors, posing new
threats to the country’s rural populations in the
guise of economic development. On March 30,
2012, the Parliament approved the Farmland Law
and Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law, which are designed to encourage large-scale
agricultural investment and retain the government’s

This Situation Update describes events occurring in Thandaunggyi Township, Toungoo District in July 2014, including livelihood problems due to land confiscation:

In 2014, Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #603 confiscated over 200 acres of villagers’ land without providing any compensation...

The villagers requested permission to collect their crops from LIB #603, however they were denied access to their fields. Instead, LIB #603 allowed local female police officers to collect the crops for themselves...