...Over the past ten years the SPDC has undertaken numerous 'development projects' across Karen State, consistently claiming that these are purely for the good of the people. Such projects however are anything but, invariably bringing with them an increase in human rights violations in the area surrounding the development site. Villages are typically forcibly relocated and their inhabitants are used as forced labour. One such project is a hydroelectricity power plant that is to be built on the Day Loh River in Toungoo District.

Abstract: This paper examines the securitization process of unauthorised migration in Thailand, in particular how the cross-border flows of marginalised minorities, the so-called 'hill tribes' came to be seen as an 'existential threat' to Thai national identity by the state. The paper aims to present a case of societal security by highlighting the importance of national identity. It intends to explore the reasons for portraying cross-border mobility of border minorities as existential threats to the integrity of the Thai state.

In addition to greater international attention on their plight in exile, Thailand’s growing community of Burmese Muslims wants a voice in the political future of their country... "...The desire for equal protection—at home and in exile—seems to be the order of the day for Mae Sot’s Burmese Muslim community. Like the majority of refugees, they wait for the opportunity to return to a free Burma.

In den Grenzregionen des Shan State im Nordosten Burmas, die seit 1989 unter der Kontrolle der United Wa State Army (UWSA) ist, werden 65 Prozent des gesamten Opiums des Landes angebaut. Trotz der Bereitschaft der Landwirte konnten wegen minderwertiger Bodenbeschaffenheit und klimatischer Bedingungen bisher noch keine Erfolg versprechenden Alternativen zum Opiumanbau realisiert werden. Seit dem kompletten Bann im Jahre 2005 werden tiefgreifende humanitäre Konsequenzen für die Region in Form von Menschenhandel, Armut und mangelnder Sicherheit befürchtet.

Following introductory historical sections, paper focuses on the impact of land-market reform at the village level – including the extent of conversions, conversions for elites, land speculation, displacement, enclosures, conflict and resistance – and on the (mal)administration of land. Concludes that the benefits of market-based land reform have accrued to local elites and outside investors. Land administration has proved highly malleable and is subject to perversion by local elites, traditional rulers, outside investors, and government officials.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
"The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) first collaborated with communitybased
organizations to document the scale and distribution of internal displacement
in Eastern Burma during 2002. Two years later, another survey was coordinated to
enhance understanding about the vulnerability of internally displaced persons. These
assessments sought to increase awareness about the situation in conflict-affected
areas which remain largely inaccessible to the international community.

1. INTRODUCTION:

...Burma’s State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military junta claims to be implementing peace and development in Karen regions, but civilians in Toungoo District of northern Karen State say they are facing instead brutal treatment aimed at asserting military control. An example of SPDC-led ‘development’ is a new dam project on the Thauk Yay Ka (Day Loh) river in western Toungoo District.

Abstract:
Millions of people from Burma have migrated into neighboring countries over the past decade.
Most have left their country in search of security and safety as a direct result of internal conflict
and militarization, severe economic hardship and minority persecution. This exodus represents
one of the largest migration flows in Southeast Asia.
Fearing persecution, the vast majority of those migrating from Burma find themselves desperate
to survive, obtaining work in underground and, often, illegal labor markets. The majority of those

Article 1 - Objectives: "This decree defines principles, rules, and measures to mitigate adverse social impacts and to compensate damages that result from involuntary acquisition or repossession of land and fixed or movable assets, including change in land use, restriction of access to community or natural resources affecting community livelihood and income sources.

Karen Internally Displaced Persons wonder when they will be able to go home...

"Sitting in his new bamboo hut in Ler Per Her camp for Internally Displaced Persons, located on the bank of Thailand’s Moei River near the border with Burma, Phar The Tai—a skinny, tough-looking man of 60 who used to hide in the jungles and mountains of Burma’s eastern Karen State—waits for the time when he can return home.