With only our voices (English)

‘With only our voices, what can we do?’
fraction of it having been returned or compensated for. 368 Over the last two years, KHRG
continued to receive information regarding past land confiscations, corroborating the finding
of the FIC, as villagers in southeast Myanmar continue to report suffering repercussions from
land confiscations perpetrated at different times over the past several decades.
Although the Myanmar government acknowledges widespread land grabbing by the
Tatmadaw, 369 they have been slow to follow through with commitments to restitution and
compensation of land, 370 and have admitted that some land seized by the military will never
be returned. 371 In particular, land confiscated prior to the 2012 Farm Land Law may not be
returned, as it was confiscated under La Na 39, or Article 39 of the 1953 Land Nationalisation
Act of Myanmar. 372 La Na 39 states that agricultural land may be used for other purposes,
such as rubber plantation or military camps, with permission from the President or his
appointees. 373
1. Occurrences and actors
Since December 2012, KHRG has received 22 reports documenting 10 separate incidents
involving the confiscation of land by Myanmar government sponsored groups, related to
militarisation. These incidents occurred in Thaton, 374 Toungoo, 375 Hpapun, 376 Dooplaya, 377
and Hpa-an districts 378 and were perpetrated by or with the cooperation of the Tatmadaw, 379
Karen BGFs, 380 KPF, 381 and Myanmar government officials. 382
According to KHRG reports, villagers and KHRG researchers reported that land confiscation
for military purposes occurred primarily without prior consultation and without compensation
in the majority of incidents. Of the ten separate incidents of land confiscation that KHRG
documented, only two incidents involved compensating villagers for their land, 383 one of
which involved only partial compensation below what villagers believed to be fair. 384 Only one
368 Yearning to Be Heard, HURFOM, 2015, 16.
369 In March 2013 the Farmland Investigation Commission, a parliamentary investigation, submitted a report to
Burma’s Union Parliament outlining massive land grabbing by the Tatmadaw. The Myanmar government agreed
to return 18,364.49 acres of the approximately 300,000 acres of land confiscated by the Tatmadaw over the past
several decades. See: “Military involved in massive land grabs: parliamentary report,” The Irrawaddy, March
2013; See: Zarni Mann, “Only Fraction of Land Seized by Military Will be Returned: Minister,” The Irrawaddy,
July 18 th 2013.
370 “MPs urge prompt return of confiscated land,” The Irrawaddy, September 26 th 2014.
371 The Myanmar government announced 50,000 acres of land where projects had already been constructed
would not be returned, but that compensation would be arranged instead. See: Shwe Aung, “Ministry Agrees to
Return Meagre Fraction of Land Confiscated by Military,” DVB, July 18 th 2013.
372 For example, in Kyauykkyi Township, Nyaunglebin District, villagers reported being told by the Township
administrator that land confiscated under La Na 39 would not be returned to villagers, see “Nyaunglebin
Interview: U A--, December 2012,” KHRG, July 2014; “Nyaunglebin Interview: Daw U---, December 2012,”
KHRG, July 2014.
373 The Land Nationalisation Act (1953), Myanmar.
374 For example see source #3.
375 For example see source #88.
376 For example see source #106.
377 For example see source #100.
378 For example see source #15.
379 For example see source #88.
380 For example see source #100.
381 Ibid.
382 For example see source #2b.
383 For example see source #1b.
384 For example see source #22.
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