according to the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HUROM) and the Mon Area Community Development Organization (MACDO), which works to provide land law awareness to Mon people.
“As much as we have gathered, there have been more than 22,000 acres of land confiscated. For example, in the Kyaikmayaw area , investment companies cooperate with authorities and demand to have lands sold at very low prices, [which] implies that the lands are taken away [and seized]. What we can confirm is that more than 22,000 acres of land remain seized,” said HURFOM program coordinator Nai Aue Mon.
Nai Aue Mon also stated that starting in 1998, from the previous military regime to the current government, several acres of land has been confiscated for the construction of gas pipelines, government battalion bases, and large investment companies.
“Although they [the government] have said to return the land after [the] U Thein Sein government takes office, land confiscated by the army [has not been] given back to the people yet. While the lands are taken away by the army, by army policy, the majors or captains [from the military army] have also taken advantage [by] seizing the lands. But, there was once about 200 acres of land in Moulmein Township [that has been] returned [to the people],” said Nai Sawar Mon, from MACDO’s Land Law Awareness project.
In December 2013, Defense Minister Second General Wai Lwin announced the land confiscation report at the Amyotha Hluttaw (Parliament) session one that for many reasons, across Burma, more than 3,000,000 acres of land have been confiscated by the army, and more than 18,000 acres, one-sixteenth of the total seized land, have been returned to the land owners.
According to Mi Kha-mon Paloi, a member of the Burma Environment Working Group, land confiscation is prevalent in Mon State mainly due to the fact that the people are not fully aware of land laws, and the community does not have a farmers’ association.
“The main challenge that Mon people are facing is that there is no such true farmer association yet, and there is no such place where [victims] can report when their lands get taken away,” said Mi Kha-mon Paloi.
According to Sai Kaysai, from the Ethnic Customary Land Protection Committee, it is necessary that the government stop taking advantage of people who are uneducated about land laws, but to acknowledge ethnic customary land law, as ethnic people traditionally pass their land down from generation to generation.
“There are eight countries in the world practicing customary land law. We have seen that the land issues have decreased in developing and developed countries; as such law is respected there. If our government also practices this law, the land [confiscation] issues taking place in ethnic areas will [decrease],” continued Sai Kaysai.
A conference regarding ethnic customary law was held August 4-6th in the Loikaw capital of Karenni State, which hosted attendance from 55 organizations, including farmers, activists, and local residents from respective states and divisions.
On August 11th, following the conference, the Ethnic Customary Land Protection Committee released a five-point statement calling for a complete stop of land confiscation throughout Burma; a return of all land that has been confiscated; the recognition of customary land law practice, and acceptance and adoption of customary land law into national land policy; the inclusion of farmers’ representatives in any process of land policy development; and the respect and enforcement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
