KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

In November 2010 the first national elections since 1990 were held in Myanmar. While
the party set up by the previous government and the armed forces retain most legislative
and executive power, the elections may nevertheless have opened up a window of
opportunity for greater civilian governance and power-sharing. At the same time, recent
fighting between opposition non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and government forces in
Kayin/Karen, Kachin, and Shan States, which displaced many within eastern Myanmar and

This report contains 12 incident reports written by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions, based on information provided by 12 different villagers living in hiding sites in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District between November 2010 and January 2011.[1] The twelve villagers described human rights concerns for civilians prior to and during displacement to their current hiding sites, including: deliberate firing of mortars and small arms into civilian areas; burning and destruction of houses, food and food preparation equipment; theft and looting of villagers' animals and p

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to their former villages are being sued for trespass by the Asia World and Shwe Padonmar companies who claim the land was given to them for palm oil plantations…

The plight of Internally Displaced People, or IDPs, in Burma was a continuing problem over the year 2000. Burma contributes
over an estimated 1 million IDPs to the estimated world IDP population of 21 million and estimated Asian IDP population of 5
million. (The CIDKP put the IDP number at 2 million in 2000.) Internally displaced persons in Burma live under conditions of
severe deprivation and hardship. All but few of these people are without adequate access to food or basic social, health and

The new wave of political reforms have set Myanmar on a road to
unprecedented economic expansion, but,
without
targeted policy
efforts and
regulation to
even the playing field, the benefits of new
investment will filter down to only a few,
leaving
small
-
scale farmers
–
the backbone of the Myanmar economy
–
unable
to benefit from

Abstract: "Considering
health
in
the
broad
term
as
well–being
this
study

examines
changes
to
villagers’
lives
with
the
effect
of
privatization
and
modernization
policies.
It
explores
how
their
economy
is
related

to

the

changing
environment
in
both
time
and

space.

A global coalition of 14 Partners and over 120 international, regional and community organizations advancing forest tenure, policy, and market reforms.....

Core Beliefs:

"Based on our experience, we find that empowerment of rural people and asset-based development are part of a process that is dependent on a set of enabling conditions, including security of tenure to access and use natural resources. As a coalition of diverse and varied organizations, RRI is guided by a set of core beliefs...

Rights of Poor Communities Must Be Recognized and Strengthened:

By District, Camp; population figures by by age and gender

KHRG continues to monitor the activities of large SPDC military columns which are systematically destroying villages in Papun, Nyaunglebin and Toungoo districts. We have just received information from a KHRG researcher in the field that in the past week SPDC Military Operations Command #15 has launched its expected pincer operation in northern Papun district, trying to catch Karen villagers between its Tactical Operations Command #2 coming from the south and Tactical Operations Command #3 coming from the north.

Urban Development. On Nov 14th 1996, the Slorc posted a notice at the gate of Kyandaw Cemetery giving relatives one month's notice to move the remains to a new site at Shwe Nyaung-bin, two hours drive from Rangoon. Kyandaw cemetery is located on 50-70 acres of what has become prime real estate in downtown Rangoon, near Hantha-waddy intersection. Both Burmese and foreigners are buried there of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist faiths.

Tatmadaw forces continue to deliberately target civilians, civilian settlements and food supplies in northern Papun District. On February 25th 2011 shelling directed at communities in Saw Muh Bplaw, Ler Muh Bplaw and Plah Koh village tracts in Lu Thaw Township displaced residents of 14 villages as they sought temporary refuge at hiding sites in the forest. After villagers fled, Tatmadaw troops looted civilians' possessions, burned parts of settlement areas and destroyed buildings and food stores in Dteh Neh village.