Since the end of September 2008, SPDC and DKBA troops have begun preparing for what KHRG researchers expect to be a renewed offensive against KNU/KNLA-controlled areas in Pa'an District. These activities match a similar increase in joint SPDC-DKBA operations in Dooplaya District further south where these groups have conducted attacks against villagers and KNU/KNLA targets over the past couple of weeks.

Continued Forced Relocations and Displacement in Shan State. "This report aims to provide a picture of the current situation in central Shan State, where the military junta ruling Burma has forcibly uprooted and destroyed over 1,400 villages and displaced well over 300,000 people since 1996. This campaign against civilians is still continuing after 4 brutal years, leaving much of the Shan population homeless. In this report, some of the villagers who both lived in relocation sites and hid in the jungle to avoid relocation describe their experiences.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in December 2010 in Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw T---, a 59-year-old village head who, at the time of interview, was in hiding from Tatmadaw troops in an area of Tenasserim Division beyond government control.

Abstract:
"Decades of neglect and abuses by the Burmese government have decimated the health of the
peoples of Burma, particularly along her eastern frontiers, overwhelmingly populated by
ethnic minorities such as the Shan. Vast areas of traditional Shan homelands have been
systematically depopulated by the Burmese military regime as part of its counter-insurgency
policy, which also employs widespread abuses of civilians by Burmese soldiers, including
rape, torture, and extrajudicial executions. These abuses, coupled with Burmese government

Displacement as a result of conflict and human rights violations continued in Myanmar in 2008. An estimated 66,000 people from ethnic minority communities in eastern Myanmar were forced to become displaced in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict and human rights abuses. As of October 2008, there were at least 451,000 people reported to be internally displaced in the rural areas of eastern Myanmar. This is however a conservative figure, and there is no information available on figures for internally displaced people (IDPs) in several parts of the country.

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Papun District in January 2011 and human rights consequences for local communities.

... Myanmar is an agricultural based country and the agriculture sector is the backbone of its economy. The agriculture sector contributes 34% of GDP, 23% of total export earnings, and employs 63% of the labour force. About 75% of the total population reside in rural areas and are
principally employed in the agriculture, livestock and fishery sectors for their livelihood.

Conclusion:
"...This memorandum describes a Myanmar military counterinsurgency offensive that
involved the widespread targeting of civilians in northern Kayin State and eastern Bago
Division. Myanmar Army soldiers fired mortars at villages, opened fire on fleeing
villagers, destroyed homes, laid landmines in civilian locations, forced villagers to work
and porter, and captured and executed civilians. The impact on the population was
massive. Tens of thousands of individuals were displaced during the campaign and many

#039;Total Denial' catalogues the systematic human rights abuses and environmental degradation perpetrated by SLORC as the regime seeks to consolidate its power base in the gas pipeline region. Further, the report shows that investment in projects such as the Yadana pipeline not only gives tacit approval and support to the repressive SLORC junta but also exacerbates the grave human rights and environmental problems in Burma....

... This background paper was commissioned by USAID as part of a Strategic Agricultural Sector and Food Security Diagnostic for Myanmar, led by Michigan State University and in partnership with the Myanmar Development Resource Institute ‐ Centre for Economic and Social Development (MDRI‐CESD). The broad objectives of the Diagnostic are to improve USAID’s understanding of the major constraints to

A major resource. Several articles on Burma (use the Search and Info by country). Extremely good links page: NGOs, Intergovernmental Sites, Research Institutes; Other links. "The World Rainforest Movement is an international network of citizens' groups of North and South involved in efforts
to defend the world's rainforests. It works to secure the lands and livelihoods of forest peoples and supports their
efforts to defend the forests from commercial logging, dams, mining, plantations, shrimp farms,
colonisation and settlement and other projects that threaten them...

... Rice productivity in Myanmar has stagnated in comparison with other rice producers in the region. Once the world’s largest rice exporter, Myanmar is now a relatively minor player exporting an average 631,000 MT annually over th past 4 years. However, the nation’s export potential remains high because of abundant land and water resources, recent indications of progressive policy reforms, increased agricultural investment, and constructive international engagement.