KNU land policy (English Version)

3.1.3 This land policy embraces a plural understanding of property
rights, encompassing communal, community, state, and/or
individual household use rights. Individual household and
collective plots of land are part of larger socially and ecologically
constructed landscapes and waterscapes; upstream and
downstream are interconnected and must be recognized and
managed in a holistic manner. This land policy privileges the
principle of democratizing access to and control over these land
and water resources, of which there are a variety of policy
expressions. These include (among others):ceilings on
occupation, use and control; redistribution in situations marked
by high degrees of land concentration and rural poverty;
restitution in situations where people have against their will been
alienated from their homelands and deprived of their customary
occupation and use rights as a result of past and current conflict;
and stewardship. The peoples’ investments of labor and
knowledge in the making of land and livelihoods must also be
recognized and prioritized by the KNU Authorities and by public
investment to ensure that the people are able to secure, enjoy
and fully realize over the long term the tenure rights accorded
in this policy.
Article 3.2 Safeguards
3.2.1 Where possible, legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights
of individuals, families and communities should be done
systematically, in order to provide impoverished, marginalized
and vulnerable peoples and communities with full opportunities
to acquire legal recognition of their tenure rights. When
recognizing or allocating tenure rights with regard to Communal
Land and/or KNU Authorities-Managed Public Purpose Land,
26 Karen National Union (KNU)