“I feel sad when our fields have been changed into a lake for the purpose of breeding fish. Since that happened, I became a worker in another field,” said Aye Thein. The 64-year-old was forced to abandon his eight acres of land in 1999 after it was confiscated by the Myanmar Billion Group company in Audsu village of Nyaungdon Township, Irrawaddy Division.
...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
Commentary: Confiscation and Extortion...
Forcible rice procurement continues in Kaeng - Tung...
Confiscation of rice fields in Kaeng-Tung...
Farmland confiscated for building new military base in Kun-Hing...
Confiscation of rice fields in Murng – Nai...
Leased rice field threatened to be forcibly taken, rent not paid in full, in Murng - Ton...
Houses forcibly taken in Murng-Ton...
Extortion of money from travelers worsens in Kun-Hing...
People forced to pay for election expenses long after poll, in Kaeng-Tung...
Whatever the prevailing terminology and ideologies, there is now ample evidence that large swathes of African farmland are being allocated to investors, usually on long-term leases, at a rate not seen for decades – indeed, not since the colonial period. The fact that much of this land is being acquired to provide for the future food and fuel needs of foreign nations has, not surprisingly, led to allegations that a neo-colonial push by more wealthy and powerful nations is underway to annex the continent’s key natural resources.
A short account of the background to a hugely energising conference on global land grabbing held at IDS, Sussex. Over 400 people wanted to write papers for the event, but there was space for only 120. Gives details of the wide scope of the conference, including green grabs.
Commentary: Confiscation and Extortion...
Situation of land confiscation...
Confiscation of cultivated land for state infrastructure in Murng-Nai and Kaeng- Tung...
Land confiscated for reselling in Murng-Pan...
Rice fields confiscated and cultivated by military using forced labour, in Murng - Pan...
Situation of abuses related to civilian vehicles...
Confiscation of civilian vehicles in Nam-Zarng,Ta-Khi-Laek and Kaeng-Tung...
Confiscation of civilian motorcycles in Loi-Lem...
El proyecto de "Protección al dominio nacional sobre la propiedad, posesión o tenencia de las tierras rurales" en su artículo 9 establece hasta un tope de 1000 hectáreas en la tenencia de las tierras rurales por parte de un mismo titular extranjero.
Organised by the Land Deals Politics Initiative (LDPI) in collaboration with the Journal of Peasant Studies and hosted by the Future Agricultures Consortium at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex...Rich site with full texts of more than 170 papers and presentations from the Conference
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned by the case of a group of farmers who lodged a complaint about attempts of an army-owned company and the powerful Htoo Company to acquire their land at a greatly undervalued amount. The farmers' complaint was rejected in court on grounds that the land was being acquired for a government project, even though the company is private. After, the company and army officers involved organized for a gang to ambush and attack a group of the farmers and to have a false criminal case lodged against them.
Includes context and importance of the problem; ILC global case studies; critique of policy options; policy recommendations.
Current land grabbing in Africa very worrying and carries strong echoes of era of Cecil Rhodes. Land deals being done in secret, myth of much vacant land, willing consent of many African leaders. Biofuels moving from miracle cure to a problem. Some positive experiences in Tanzania. Need for imaginative thinking and action.
...This briefer focuses on the impacts of two of Burma’s largest energy projects, led
by Chinese, South Korean, and Indian multinational corporations in partnership with the
state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Burmese companies, and Burmese
state security forces. The projects are the Shwe Natural Gas Project and the Burma-China
oil transport project, collectively referred to here as the “Burma-China pipelines.” The
pipelines will transport gas from Burma and oil from the Middle East and Africa across