..Rights to land in Burma are bound up with issues of ethnic conflict, militarisation and lack of democratic institutions.
A future democratic Burma will need to seek ways to resolve competing claims to land, taking into account such issues
as traditional ownership by particular ethnic nationalities, return of displaced persons, varying religious ties to land,
development imperatives and agricultural demands. The chosen method of resolution will need to address, as much as
possible, the needs for certainty, efficiency and a fair hearing for those concerned.

The Government of the Union of Myanmar -
The Central Committee for the Management of Culturable Land, Fallow Land and waste Land -
Notification No. 1/91 -
6th waxing Day of Nadaw, 1353 M.E -
(12th December, 1991)

This report is a preliminary exploration of forced migration/internal displacement in Burma/Myanmar in two main areas. The first is the status in terms of international standards, specifically those embodied in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, of the people who leave home not because of conflict or relocation orders, but as a result of a range of coercive measures which drive down incomes to the point that the household economy collapses and people have no choice but to leave home.

... Extremely rapid growth in Chinese imports of ‘redwood’, ‘rosewoods’ or ‘Hongmu’ timbers from Myanmar in the past two years is directly driving increased illegal and unsustainable logging, posing a real threat to governance, the rule of law and the viability Myanmar’s dwindling forests. EIA research shows that, based on current trends, the two most targeted Hongmu species in
Myanmar - tamalan and padauk - could be logged to commercial extinction in as little as three years.

The Draft land law

The State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 8/92 -
The 9th Waning Day of Tazaungmon, 1354 M.E. -
3 November 1992

The State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 5/95 -
The 6th Waxing of Kason, 1357 ME. -
4 May 1995

Unofficial translation (by UNICEF)

Burma is situated in Southeastern Asia, bordering Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. The
majority of its population lives in rural areas and depends on land as a primary means of livelihood.
Because all land in Burma ultimately belongs to the state, citizens and organizations depend upon use
-
rights, but do not own land.
Burma’s laws grant women equal rights i
n some respects and also recognize certain customary laws that
provide women equal rights in relation to land. In practice, however, the rights of many women are

It is estimated that the overall number of Burmese migrants in Thailand is somewhere in between 800,000 and one million.
Cross-border migration into Thailand has steadily increased in recent years. Since the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Thais
have gone to work abroad. Refugees from Burma, Laos and Cambodia have since filled this labour shortage in Thailand.
However, many of them are undocumented, illegal workers and thus constitute the most vulnerable section of the work force.

This note is meant to serve as a quick reference for local authorities and NGOs to
acquire an understanding of relevant land laws and the context of land-use in
Myanmar. All land and all natural resources in Myanmar, above and below the ground,
above and beneath the water, and in the atmosphere is ultimately owned by the Union of
Myanmar. Although the socialist economic system was abolished in 1988, the existing Land
Law and Directions were not changed in parallel, and thus these are still in use today in