COMMENTARY:Land Grabbing and Related Issues and Abuses Continue
As land grabbing, attempts at land grabbing and other problems
related to land have continued unabated at many places in Shan State,
human rights abuses connected or related to these incidents have also
been rampant over the years up to the present.
The Burmese military have not only taken lands for themselves but
have also permitted, and even instructed, their cronies and cohorts,
including ceasefire groups, people’s militia forces, their families and
relatives, and influential individuals, etc., to take lands that they
wanted for various purposes.
Many land areas that have been forcibly taken or which people have
attempted to take had been originally cultivated by local people for
generations. Even many lands claimed to be ownerless or uncultivated had
in fact been abandoned due to pressure by the authorities on the
owners. Furthermore, apart from taking lands for their own use, the
Burmese military and some ceasefire groups and people’s militia forces
have exerted control over the use of lands in areas under their
influence. They allowed only their relatives and cohorts to farm in
certain land areas and prohibited the original local people from doing
so.
In attempting to grab lands, where it was not probable to simply
confiscate or take them for some reasons, the military and their cohorts
have often used various means including restrictions, threats and other
cunning ways, so that the lands would sooner or later fall into their
hands.
People generally believe that without the backing or tacit approval
of the Burmese military, the situation would not have become as bad as
this. These individuals and groups, their cronies and cohorts, would not
have been so bold as to not care about any consequences.
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CONTENTS: Themes & Places of Violations reported in this issue
- Themes: All the reports in this month’s issue are
about various types of human rights violations directly and indirectly
connected to land issues, including land grabbing, attempt at land
grabbing, and other related incidents of violations, e.g. restriction,
intimidation, extortion, etc., committed by members of the
administration, the Burmese military and their cronies and cohorts, from
around mid 2012 up to the beginning of 2013
- Places: Lai-Kha, Nam-Zarng and Murng-Ton
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ACRONYMS:
LIB = Light Infantry Battalion (e.g.
LIB246 = Light Infantry Battalion No. 246)
IB = Infantry Battalion
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LANDS ABANDONED UNDER FORCE SEIZED AND ORIGINAL OWNERS REQUIRED TO BUY THEM BACK, IN LAI-KHA
In late 2012, up to the end of the year when this report was
received, many displaced people who returned to their native places to
reclaim and work their original rice fields and farms were told by a
people’s militia force under the Burmese military that they needed to
buy them if they wanted them back.
Sometime around early and mid 2012, there has been news about people
who had been displaced for various reasons being allowed to return to
their original villages by the current nominally civilian government,
which had assumed power a year or so before.
Another piece of news had been that since the Shan resistance troops
and the Burmese army troops had reached a ceasefire and had agreed to
work together toward a democratic country in which all peoples are
equal, the Burmese military would no longer oppress the people.
This news has had some effects on several displaced communities
inside and outside of the country. Many people have been interested in
returning to their original places, which they had been forced to leave
for many years, if they could reclaim and work their original rice
fields and farms.
During late 2012, a number of people from several village tracts
including Wan Paang, Zalaai, Wan Heng, Wan Saang, Wan Thi, Kaang Un and
Naa Poi, in
Lai-Kha township, returned to their
original places from which they had been forcibly relocated by the
Burmese army troops during the 1996-1997 mass forced relocations, in
which more than 1,000 villages were relocated.
These longtime displaced people were from different places inside and
outside of the country, including those who had been staying and
working in Thailand since their displacement more than 10 years earlier.
Although they have been able to survive by working hard at different
places and abroad, these people have always wanted to return to their
original places which they still call home.
Most of them were once decent farmers, working many acres of wet rice
fields and dry farmland for generations, and owning hundreds of head of
cattle. After being displaced, they have virtually nothing to call
their own. At best, they could only earn enough to feed their families,
although some may have done a little better or worse than others.
However, when they got to their original places, they were told that
if they wanted to work their rice fields and farms again, they had to
buy them back from the concerned authorities in the area, a Shan
people’s militia force working under the Burmese military.
The said Shan people’s militia force were members of a former
ceasefire group led by a man named Aai Thoi, who had been extorting
money from the local people over the years and sharing the spoils with
the Burmese army troops under whom they operated.
The price of rice fields was set at 100,000 kyat per acre, and
farmland was between 30,000 and 50,000 kyat per acre, depending on their
locations. People who could not afford to buy back their fields and
farms were unable to resettle down at their original villages.
Those who had gone back from Thailand were said to have already been
thinking of returning to Thailand. If they could not get back their
fields and farms and grow at first at least subsistence crops they could
not survive, because there were virtually no other means of livelihood
in the area.
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BURMESE MILITARY LET PEOPLE’S MILITIA GROUPS GROW CROPS ON LANDS LONG CULTIVATED BY LOCAL PEOPLE, IN NAM-ZARNG
From mid 2012, up to the beginning of 2013 when this report was received, many lands already cultivated by local people in
Nam-Zarng township
have been forcibly taken by several people’s militia forces, operating
under the Burmese military, to grow their own crops.
With the permission from the Burmese military under which they
operated to grow crops on lands in the areas designated for them, these
militia groups have taken many acres of plots of land to grow corn,
sesame and peanut, etc. for their own consumption.
In choosing plots of land to grow their crops, they did not care
whether the lands belonged to or were already cultivated by other
people. They simply put their tractors to work and tilled the ground in
the land areas they had chosen and in the process had included many
areas of local people’s farms.
It was learned that a people’s militia force known as ‘Naa Yaai’
group have been designated by the Burmese military to settle down in an
area about 15 miles south of Nam-Zarng town, where there were several
villages inhabited by an indigenous people known as ‘Yaang Lam’.
Another people’s militia force known as ‘Maak Keng’ group have been
designated an area southwest of the town down to Murng Zid village
tract, where there were several villages inhabited by indigenous peoples
such as ‘Tai Loi’, ‘PaO’ and ‘Palaung’.
A people’s militia force named ‘SSS’ were previously permitted to be
stationed in Nam-Zarng town, but were ordered by the Burmese military in
2012 to move to the east of the town in the area of Ta Saai and Kung
Pok villages in Mong Mon village tract.
During the period from around mid to the end of 2012, these people’s
militia groups have taken many acres of farmland originally cultivated
by the local indigenous peoples in those areas. Although community
leaders of those respective peoples have occasionally complained about
this to the township administration, nothing has yet been done up to the
end of 2012.
In early 2013, on 8 January, members of a PaO people’s militia force in
Nam-Zarng township
came to the area of Haai Naeng and Kaad Lur village tracts in the
township and told the local people that their group would soon come and
control the area to take some land for their own benefit.
The area of land they most likely intended to take covered some
villages, including Saam Khaa village, inhabited by ‘Shan’ and ‘Yaang’
indigenous peoples. There were more than 100 households, big and small,
with a total population of around 500.
These village communities have lived in this area for generations and
earned their living by cultivating their own farmland, of which each
household had about 4-5 acres. These communities would surely lose most
of their land, or even be forcibly relocated, they said.
Furthermore, there were rumours circulating that some kind of mineral
has been discovered somewhere underground in the area, which indicated
that it could eventually become a mining area and the local people would
then be forced to move out.
Some people who thought that would certainly happen sooner or later
one day and they would actually have to move away, most likely without
receiving any compensation, have already been preparing to move before
anything has happened.
Although the said people’s militia group or the Burmese military
under which they operated had not yet come to do anything about the land
in February 2013 when this report was received, some people have
already moved to find other places where they could engage in some kind
of livelihood. “Before it is too late”, they said.
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SITUATION OF LAND GRABBING AND RELATED ABUSES IN AREAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A CEASEFIRE GROUP “UWSA”, IN MURNG-TON
Since their settlement several years ago up to the present, members of the UWSA ceasefire group in Huay Aw area in Murng-Ton township
have grabbed a lot of land, and are still attempting to grab more, and
in the process have committed human rights violations against many
people in the area and other surrounding areas.
UWSA (United Wa State Army), a ceasefire group with their main
headquarters close to the Chinese border in northern Shan State, were
allowed to set up their second headquarters in Murng-Ton township close
to the Thai border in southern Shan State by the Burmese military after
they forcibly relocated a number of Wa civilian families to the area, a
decade or so ago.
Since then, land grabbing by the UWSA troops and land wresting
by Wa civilian new settlers from the original local people have become
serious problems up to the present, with the new settlers often getting
the upper hand because they enjoyed the backing of the UWSA which in
turn enjoyed the backing of the Burmese military.
The following are some instances of human rights violations that took place in late 2012 up to early 2013:
ORIGINAL LOCAL PEOPLE FORCED TO SELL LAND, RESTRICTED FROM CULTIVATING REMOTE FARMS, IN MURNG-TON
In September 2012, SHRF met with some original
local people from Murng Kyawt area in Huay Aw village tract in Murng-Ton
township and inquired about the situation of their livelihood in the
area which was under the influence of the UWSA ceasefire group.
According to them, since the new settlers came there have been a lot
of problems concerning land grabbing and wresting. The UWSA and their
civilian supporters have taken a lot of cultivated land areas from the
original local people, often by forcing them to sell, using various
cunning methods.
The situation has become worse in 2012 for the original local people
in their particular area since the new settlers have managed to forcibly
buy all the rice fields around the water source which all the rice
fields in the area used for irrigation.
After that, they asked to buy the rice fields located downstream of
the water source one after another. If the original owners refused to
sell them, they simply diverted the water away from the fields in point,
stating that the water was needed for irrigation somewhere else.
Without regular water for irrigation, except for some occasional
rains, the original local farmers could not cultivate their lands
properly in the long run and sooner or later have had to sell them to
the new settlers. When alternative livelihoods could not be found in the
area, these people have had to flee and become displaced persons.
Although there were good arable lands in the remote surrounding hills
and valleys, original local people were prohibited from farming in
those places by the UWSA, citing security reasons. But the new settlers
were allowed free access to those places and their farms and gardens
could be seen all over, they said.
THREATS OF LAND CONFISCATION, ARREST AND RESTRICTIONS, IN MURNG-TON
In late 2012, there have been some incidents indicating that members
of UWSA and their civilian relatives have still been willing to grab
more and more land from the original local people in Murng Kyawt area in
Murng-Ton township.
On 1 November 2012, the UWSA officer who was in charge of the
administration of Murng Kyawt area issued an order to the ethnic Shan,
or Tai, communities living in the area. The order said that if any Shan
left their places and not returned over a month, their fields, farms and
houses would be confiscated.
Because of the persecution by the newcomers, many original local Shan
have been facing difficulties to earn enough to feed their families
just by working in Murng Kyawt area, and have to go somewhere else to
earn more money and bring or send it back to their families, mostly to
Thailand.
Members of many families, sometimes even whole families, have had to
leave their homes and lands, which they do not want to sell to the new
settlers, and work at other places, including Thailand, usually for
months before they could come back home.
The order of the UWSA has caused a lot of anxiety among the original
local people, and even more so after an incident that took place at the
end of 2012, in which a Shan man who had returned from working in
Thailand was driven out of Murng Kyawt village during the night by the
troops of UWSA.
On 23 December 2012, Zaai Aw (not his real name), who had gone to
work in Thailand, leaving his wife and children at their home in Murng
Kyawt, came back to visit and give some money to his family. Zaai Aw had
to go and work in Thailand because he could not earn enough to feed his
family although they had some land to farm.
However, Zaai Aw did not have a chance to be with his family very
long because the troops of UWSA stationed at Murng Kyawt did not permit
him to stay overnight at his house. Shortly after midnight, they came to
his house and told him to leave the village immediately, threatening to
arrest and put him in jail if he did not comply.
Zaai Aw had no choice but to leave right away as ordered, knowing how
brutal this group could be if antagonized. This incident has made the
original local Shan communities become more and more worried about their
future.
Many people fear that UWSA and their civilian newcomers would do
virtually anything in their capacity to persecute the local Shan
communities until they eventually leave the area, so that they could
take all the land and property left behind.
WRESTING OF WATER FROM ORIGINAL LOCAL FARMERS, IN MURNG-TON
In September 2012, members of UWSA destroyed a traditional dam and an
irrigation ditch used by local Shan farmers for generations in Murng
Haang village tract in
Murng-Ton township, and diverted all the water to their newly set up fields and farms at a different place.
There were Shan villagers’ rice fields in an area covering about 60
acres of land on the eastern bank of Nam Haang river, on which they
built a traditional dam and diverted some water to irrigate their fields
for generations, in Murng Haang village tract.
Some time ago, a new settlement was set up for a Wa village
community by the UWSA on the western bank of, and some distance from,
Nam Haang river. The Wa community had in time made some land in the area
into their own fields and farms, and needed water to irrigate them.
On 1 September 2012, some UWSA troops came with a digging machine,
probably an excavator, and destroyed the dam and the irrigation ditch
used by the Shan local farmers east of Nam Haang river, and dug a new
ditch to divert water to the new fields and farms west of the river.
Since the UWSA had diverted virtually all the water to their new
fields and farms, there was hardly any water left for the rice fields on
the eastern bank, and besides, the dam and the ditch had also been
destroyed. Although the Shan farmers and their community leader in Murng
Haang lodged a complaint about this with the Burmese military
authorities in Murng-Ton, they said nothing to the perpetrators.
Although members of a Shan political party have helped to plead with
the UWSA to spare some water, there was no effect on them, they simply
did not care. This has caused many people, especially the Shan farmers,
to worry about their future.
After the destruction of their dam and irrigation ditch, the rice
crops of the Shan farmers, which were already aboutto produce rice ears,
did not receive enough water apart from some occasional rains, and
yielded very poorly for the last harvest near the end of the year. “We
are very much worried for our future, but we don’t know what to do,”
they said.
LAND GRABBED AND RESOLD BY BUSINESSMAN UNDER “UWSA” PROTECTION, IN MURNG-TON
In October 2012, an ethnic Chinese businessman, working under the
protection of UWSA, grabbed a long strip of land that included many
villagers’ farms, divided it into small plots and advertised to sell
them, in
Murng-Ton township.
The said long strip of land was located along an old logging road,
constructed many years ago by a Thai logging company, starting from
Hawng Lin village in Phaai Khe village tract in Murng-Ton township down
towards the Thai border, and was about 4-5 miles long.
Villagers of Hawng Lin and other villages in the area have already
been using parts of the land in many places to cultivate sesame and
other crops for many years when the said businessman came and measured
it, split it into small plots, and advertised them for sale.
Villagers who were cultivating farms in the area were shocked to hear
about it, but they could do nothing and had no one to complain to or
ask for help. It was as if the farms and woodlands along the old logging
road between Murng-Ton town and Me Ken village tract all belonged to
him, the way he was splitting and selling them, they said.
