An advisor to President Thein Sein met with a group of ethnic activists in Naypyidaw on Friday and tried to assuage their concerns over a recent rise in land conflicts in Burma’s ethnic areas.

Tin Htut Oo, chairman of the National Economic and Social Advisory Council (NEASAC), told the activists that the government’s attempt at establishing “rule of law” would protect ethnic communities against land-grabbing.

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.

Executive Summary: "In the context of transition to a more open form of
government, the Myanmar government has
begun to liberalize land markets and, in 2012, enacted two major land-related laws.
Implementing these new land laws has proven challenging, however, as it has been difficult to
integrate these laws with the existing customary practices of various ethnic minorities. To
address these and other issues UN-HABITAT Myanmar is assisting the Myanmar government in
developing a
Land Administration and Management Program
(LAMP).