The Farmland Law Awareness training, organized by MACDO, was held on August 5-8th in Kawzer Town, Ye Township, Mon State. About twenty-five farmers from villages surrounding Kawzer Town participated in the training, including Win-thamaw, Mi Htawlar Nge, and Kyun-kanyar villages, according to Nai Sawor Mon, organizer of the training.
“The owners of farmland and plantations in Mon region did not understand farmland laws enacted by the government. There are lots of vacant and uncultivated lands in southern Ye [Township], but [farmers] do not have any [documents] proving the lands belong to them; some only have land record form 105. But, as the lands were passed to them traditionally [from generation to generation], and they have worked on the land, they know that the lands belong to them. So, now we explained to them, and gave them awareness so that they understand, and will not cause any problem or issues concerned with the land,” said Nai Sawor Mon.
With the southern area of Ye Township located close to the sea, business persons have shown interest in beach areas as the Mon State government has planned to develop projects for resorts and tourism.
“One day, when the price of [farm]land increases, those who apply for land grants first will own the land. The [farm]land owners who do not have grants will face trouble at that time. So, [at the training] we explained and discussed Form 7 [document which denotes the right to own and work on farmland],” continues Nai Sawor Mon.
At the Farmland Law Awareness training, lawyer Ko Min Soe Naing educated farmers about government farmland laws enacted on March 30, 2012, while Nai Pyuhar Mon trained them in the use of a basic GPS.
“[A] GPS will be used to mark the land. Because the farmers should know about the GPS, we provided basic GPS at the training,” Said Nai Pyuhar Mon.
The training in Ye Township was the third of its kind to be organized in 2014, while the previous first and second trainings were held in Yebyu Township and Tenasserim Division, respectively, according to MACDO.
Meanwhile, the Ethnic Community Development Forum and Burma Environment Working Group also held a conference concerning lands policy development. The conference was organized on August 4-6th in Loi-kaw, the capital of Karenni State, and it drew attendance of 103 representatives from farmer groups, activist groups, and fifty-five civil society organizations. The Ethnic Customary Land Protection Committee was founded at the conference, and the committee released a 5-point statement on August 11th.
Included in the Ethnic Customary Land Protection Committee’s 5-points were the call to stop land confiscation throughout Burma; to return all lands that have been sized; to recognize customary land law practice and accept and adopt this into national land policy, to include true representatives of farmers in any process of land policy development; and, finally, to respect and enforce the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
