President of Myanmar, U Thein Sein, announced that the government cannot give back over 30,000 acres of paddy land that the state has been using since it was confiscated by the army two decades ago. On the one hand the President ordered state and regional governments and land management…
This Short Update describes the confiscation of land belonging to villagers in Don Yin Township, Hpa-an District. The land was confiscated under the threat of violence by members of the Karen National Liberation Army, the KNU/KNLA-Peace Council and other individuals.
This Situation Update describes land confiscation committed by local armed actors in Hlaingbwe, Don Yin and Hti Lon townships, Hpa-an District during 2014: Tatmadaw soldiers destroyed approximately 3,000 acres of villagers’ paddy fields during the construction of a dam in Hti Lon village...…
Farmers from eastern Shan State’s Tachileik Township have called for an immediate end to gold mining operations in the area, which they say are seriously polluting water sources and causing other environmental damage.
The ethnic Shan villagers from Na Hai Long, Weng Manaw and Ganna…
Since the Scotland-based HALO Trust started work in Afghanistan in 1988 and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) cleared its first mine in Cambodia in 1992, the two NGOs have cleared and destroyed several million landmines and explosive weapons from conflict zones around the world. Their total haul in…
Executive summary:
"IDMC estimates that there are up to 642,600 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar, forced to flee their homes by armed conflict and inter-communal violence. The figure includes up to 400,000 people living in protracted displacement as a result of conflict…
Driving Dispossession: The Global Push to “Unlock the Economic Potential of Land,” sounds the alarm on the unprecedented wave of privatization of natural resources that is underway around the world. Through six case studies — Ukraine, Zambia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and Brazil —…
... The first commercial small-scale oil palm plantations were introduced to Myanmar in 1926 covering 120 ha. In the 1980’s the European Economic Community and Swiss
government implemented a palm oil project to stimulate growth in the sector. As of 2014 401,813 ha have been allocated and…
...The research presented in this discussion paper
by Thet Aung Lynn and Mari Oye provides an
overview of the current role of subnational government in natural resource management and
revenue collection in Myanmar. Natural resources provide a large share of government revenue,…
The Myanmar Development Resource Institute's Centre for Economic and Social Development (MDRI-CESD) and The Asia Foundation are pleased to present this fourth volume in the Subnational Governance in Myanmar Discussion Paper Series.
Myanmar's government has announced a commitment…
This Incident Report describes the death of a home guard on January 24th 2014 after he stepped on a Tatmadaw landmine whilst hunting for birds in the forest. Home guards are villagers who provide security for communities of civilians in hiding. Widespread displacement occurred in Lu Thaw…
Integrated Watershed Management represents an option for the management of water catchment areas. However, what may sound good in theory often proves to be very difficult when it comes to practical implementation, as an example from the Lower Mekong Region shows.