Law and policy on land in Burma/Myanmar

See also the section on Land in "Law and Constitution" and the sub-sections on shifting cultivation under "Agriculture".
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Description: A compilation of all of the existing housing, land and property laws in Burma, plus commentary... "The deplorable human rights record of Burma?s military junta has been a key focus of international attention for many years. The military has ruled the country for half a century, and has presided over a collapse of the economy and of social services. At the same time, successive military regimes have perpetuated an almost feudal governance system ? where the population is seen as a resource at the disposal of the rulers ? that is in many respects unchanged since pre-colonial times. A combination of deliberate abuse, a general climate of impunity, and out-dated and ineffective social policies all contribute to a fundamental absence of basic human rights in this country of 55 million people. To date, the bulk of attention has focused on important questions of political prisoners, denial of basic freedoms, forced labour, forced displacement, as well as the other abuses related to the army?s brutal counter-insurgency policies. However, there are additional types of rights abuses that are not as frequently mentioned, but that have a critical impact on the daily lives of millions of people across Burma. And it is these ? housing, land and property (HLP) rights ? that form the contents of this important new book. This volume contains all of the existing housing, land and property laws in Burma, and makes a vital contribution to understanding the impact that these legal structures have on communities across the country. Being able to view the HLP legal code in its entirety for the first time reveals more clearly than ever before that supporters of democratic and governance reform within Burma need to better understand ? and place greater emphasis on ? HLP issues than they have to date. Understanding how these issues are dealt with in both law and practice will enable more creative thinking about Burma?s HLP future, in order that the peoples of the country can most fully enjoy their legitimate housing, land and property rights."
Creator/author: Scott Leckie and Ezekiel Simperingham (eds)
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions, HLP Institute
2009-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-30
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Since its establishment in 2006, Displacement Solutions has been active in exploring the housing, land and property rights situation in Burma. The Burma HLP Initiative aims to shed new light on the numerous HLP rights issues in Burma today by building capacity for enforcing these rights by citizens of the country. The Initiative works together with various groups within and outside Burma towards these ends. The Initiative explores key questions such as: * What are the characteristics and status of the legal regime in Burma as it relates to HLP rights issues? * How effective is the current legal regime in promoting human rights standards relevant to HLP rights? What are the key issues facing the HLP rights regime in Burma? * In what ways can the legal code more effectively address HLP rights in Burma, and how might it be reformed to avoid problems in the future transition process? This will draw on the many experiences of political transition since the end of the Cold War. * How can the capacity of the Burmese democratic opposition be enhanced to structurally address the HLP legal environment in Burma today? How can expert capacity be strengthened to better prepare the broader democratic opposition to address the HLP challenges that will arise during and after political transition?..." THIS LINK CONTAINS A HYPERLINKED SET OF BURMESE HLP-RELATED LAWS
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions
2009-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-10-20
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Community and Customary Land - 12 files ... Dispute Mechanisms and Approaches - 9 files... General - 45 files Human Rights - 14 files... Land and the Ceasefire Process... Land Grabbing - 68 files... Land Titling - 7 files... Community Mapping: Overcoming Complexities... Free, Prior, Informed, Consent: Policy Brief... Gendered Aspects of Land Rights in Myanmar... Institutional Models for a Future Recognition and Registration of Customary (Communal) Tenure in Myanmar..... To access some files, users may have to take out a (free) subscription to MYLAFF at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/mylaff
Source/publisher: MYLAFF
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-02
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to land, property and planning
Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-12
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Links to OBL sections under Agriculture
Source/publisher: Online Burma/Myanmar Library
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-08
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
Format : php
Size: 201 bytes
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Description: "Executive summary..... Globally, about 2 billion people live under a customary tenure system, which is a set of rules and norms that govern local peoples’ use of forests, land and other natural resources. This tenure and its accompanying rights are crucial to peoples’ livelihoods, food security and culture, as well as to forest protection, biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. Customary tenure has long been insecure and, in many places, it is under growing pressure. But it is also increasingly recognized through a variety of mechanisms, both formal and informal. This report focuses on the recognition of customary tenure of communities living in forested landscapes in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam and includes a case study from Thailand. The report addresses a variety of questions: What is meant by the “recognition” of customary tenure? What mechanisms can be used to strengthen communities’ tenure security? How have these mechanisms been used in the Mekong region and what are the remaining gaps or challenges? What are the opportunities to better integrate customary tenure in ongoing interventions at the landscape, national and regional levels? And what lessons can be learned for the region and beyond? The report identifies three main pathways into which mechanisms for recognizing customary tenure can be categorized: self-recognition by communities; joint recognition by communities and others; and formal recognition in legal frameworks. It introduces a conceptual framework for assessing these mechanisms, including by analysing them through the lenses of rights, livelihoods, governance, gender equity and social inclusion, customary and traditional practices and dispute resolution. Ten case studies illustrate different approaches, often a mix of formal and informal mechanisms that have been used to recognize customary tenure in five countries of the Mekong region covered in this analysis. The report also provides an updated account of customary tenure recognition within legal frameworks, reflecting recent legal reforms in some countries. The analysis shows that legal frameworks in all five countries have provisions enabling communities to use and manage forests and natural resources. In most cases, however, these provisions do not fully recognize customary rights and practices and come with various responsibilities and conditions. Restrictions still apply to the scope of rights, the geographical area and land-use types and the duration over which rights are granted. The report identifies gaps and inconsistencies in legal frameworks and how they are implemented. It suggests promising avenues for improving the recognition of customary tenure and makes specific recommendations for each of the three pathways of recognition. It also describes some entry points for improving recognition of customary tenure that are relevant to most or all countries in the region. These include improved coordination and information-sharing mechanisms, awareness-raising, capacity-building, legal reforms and improved implementation of legal frameworks, documentation, testing and safeguards..."
Source/publisher: RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests and Mekong Region Land Governance
2022-12-09
Date of entry/update: 2022-12-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 3.42 MB (72 pages) - Original version
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Description: "Update by the Shan Human Rights Foundation October 12, 2021 Local farmers oppose Ngwe Yi Pale’s planned coal mining expansion along Pang River in Tangyan, northern Shan State Local farmers are opposing plans by the Mandalay-based Ngwe Yi Pale conglomerate and regime authorities to expand their damaging coal mining operations along the Pang River in Na Hook village tract, Tangyan township, northern Shan State. The new mining area spans about 850 acres of farmlands on both sides of the Pang River, a mile west of the existing coal mine at Tak Liet, where the entire village has been forced to move due to underground excavation. Locals are resisting the expansion not only because of direct farmland loss, but also fears of further damage to the ecology of the Pang River, from pollution and planned mining beneath the riverbed. 14 villages in the area, with over 3,000 residents, rely on the Pang River for their farming livelihoods, growing thousands of acres of rice, corn and ground nuts. The Pang River is the main tributary of the Salween River in Shan State, and a vital water source for tens of thousands of villagers. The plans for the new mine were revealed on May 7, 2021, when 15 farmers were summoned by the chairman of Na Hook village tract, and asked to sign a letter agreeing to coal exploration on their lands. The farmers, from Wan Long, Wan Kyaung, Wan Kao and Wan Peing Moang, were informed of the meeting the day before, and told to bring their ID cards with them. The chairman, Loong Sai Goam Hsa (a.k.a. Loong Sai Sai Sang Saw), told them that Ngwe Yi Pale company would just be doing test digging in small plots of one square meter, so four farmers agreed to sign, but the rest refused to do so. The chairman then forged the signatures of the remaining eleven villagers, which were collected in the afternoon by Aung Ko Hlat, the Ngwe Yi Pale manager based at Tak Liet. On May 8, the farmers wrote a letter to the SSPP/SSA, the local SNLD office and the Mong Ha militia, complaining about the forging of their signatures and asking for help in stopping the new coal mine. Villagers heard nothing further until September 18, when the 15 farmers were again summoned to meet the village tract chairman. This time the Ngwe Yi Pale manager Aung Ko Hlat was also there. The chairman and the manager again urged the farmers to sign their agreement to mining exploration on their lands. However, the farmers said they would never sign, whatever they were offered. They said they relied on their farmlands for their livelihoods and no amount of money could provide for them throughout their lives like their lands. Since this meeting, youth from many villages in the area have been mobilizing and planning action to oppose the new mining. The Na Hook tract chairman Loong Sai Goam Hsa was appointed after the military coup and is not supported by local villagers. The former chairman Sai Bom had sided with the villagers in opposing the coal mining in 2020, and been threatened by the Mong Ha militia as a result..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-10-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf pdf pdf
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Sub-title: SAC go-ahead for UWSA factories in Tachileik threatens far-reaching pollution - စစ်ကောင်စီက UWSA အား တာချီလိတ်တွင် စက်ရုံတည်ဆောက်ခွင့်ပေးလိုက်ခြင်းသည် ကြီးမားသော ညစ်ညမ်းမှုအဖြစ် ခြိမ်းခြောက်နေ
Description: "Renewed efforts by the United Wa State Army’s Hong Pang conglomerate, backed by the SAC regime, to push through construction of two factories on confiscated land near Tachileik, a kilometer from the Thai border, are being strongly opposed by local communities, who want their farmland returned and fear far-reaching polluting impacts. The factories are planned on 100 acres of land east of Tachileik town, part of a 600- acre plot confiscated from residents of Hong Luek village in 1998-1999 by the Burma Army to set up an industrial zone. The 100 acre-plot was acquired by the Hong Pang company in 2001 for factories which were never built. In 2011, the Hong Luek farmers started appealing to the USDP government for the return of their lands in the industrial zone, which they had continued to farm where possible. Despite ongoing appeals after the NLD government came to power, on September 5, 2019, the Shan State government granted permission to Hong Pang’s Loi Sam Song company to build two factories on their 100 acre plot: a rubber crumb factory and a manganese processing factory. In October 2019, the UWSA company tried to start fencing off the land, but the farmers blocked this. The company sued them for trespass and destruction of property, but did not proceed with construction. During 2020 and early 2021, the farmers continued to block efforts by the company to fence off their farmlands, and to appeal through official channels for land return. On May 6, 2021, three months after the military coup, the company suddenly brought in bulldozers to begin levelling the land. When local farmers and monks again blocked this, police were brought in to protect the company workers, showing that the new regime was backing the UWSA’s plans. During May and June, despite intimidation, locals bravely continued to try and block the company’s construction efforts, but the company was allowed to work at night, during curfew hours, managing to lay cement fencing foundations around the land, which are difficult to remove. Construction has paused since early July, but locals assume this is because of the Covid lockdown. Locals are opposing the factory construction not only due to loss of farmlands, but also fears of pollution, particularly of the Ruak River, which flows past the industrial zone before forming the border with Thailand and flowing into the Mekong River at the Golden Triangle confluence. During the past few years, Thai water authorities have measured dangerous levels of manganese in the Ruak River, from which the Mae Sai water supply is pumped. This is likely due to contamination from existing manganese mines north of Tachileik and manganese ore stockpiles, all in the Ruak River catchment area. Construction of a manganese processing factory directly beside the Ruak River will greatly worsen the existing contamination, which is particularly dangerous for children’s health. Locals also worry about air pollution from both factories, particularly the foul smell of rubber processing, which will permeate the eastern suburbs of Tachileik and adjoining areas of Mae Sai in Thailand, causing adverse health impacts and damaging the tourist industry. Manganese mining and widespread rubber cultivation in Tachileik have already negatively impacted the local environment and livelihoods, for the enrichment of military elites and outside investors. The planned factories are poised to inflict even further damage, on both sides of the border. SHRF strongly supports the brave efforts of the Hong Luek villagers to protect their lands, and urges the SAC and UWSA to immediately cancel the planned factory projects, so that the lands can be returned to their rightful owners. We are inspired by the Mae Sai residents’ successful blocking 20 years ago of Hong Pang’s efforts to build a polluting coal-fired power plant in Tachileik, and hope that Mae Sai communities will mobilize again to join this new struggle to protect our shared Ruak river basin environment..."
Source/publisher: Shan Human Rights Foundation
2021-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-08-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Size: 8.16 MB 6.82 MB 7.9 MB 7.89 MB
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Sub-title: Towards a future federal democratic system where working people can flourish
Description: "This primer is about ‘the 5Rs’ and land and natural resource politics. The 5Rs is a set of five principles: Recognition, Restitution, Redistribution, Regeneration, and Representation/Resistance. The primer briefly explores the idea of a working people’s program on land and natural resources in Myanmar based on these five principles in the context of a future federal democratic system. Each of these principles alone is supported by international human rights law (links to the most relevant UN documents can be found in Annex 1). But here we outline a working people’s land and natural resource program for deep social change based on the 5Rs taken together. By 'working people' we mean ordinary people who have to work in order to ‘make ends meet’. The work that many people do to survive nowadays involves both waged labor and unwaged labor. A lot of unwaged work that is essential to survival is done at home, such as cooking and cleaning, child raising, health care, and elderly care. It is the kind of work that makes it possible for some members of the household to go outside the home and undertake waged work. In rural villages a lot of household work is related to producing goods for own consumption and for selling -- such as farming, artisanal fishing, animal keeping, and other artisanal and ‘cottage industry’ (like handicraft making). This work often relies on the unwaged labour of household members (including children). Sometimes, and if there is money, a household may hire other villagers or someone from outside the village to help them with some of these labors. Over the past four decades, many important structural changes in the way the economy and governance are organized have occurred all over the world. These processes have not been smooth nor have they unfolded in exactly the same manner everywhere. They have been marked by profound disagree- ment and conflict over the most basic matters in society -- such as who owns what, who does what, who gets what, what should happen to the wealth that is created in a society, and, who gets to decide. Ordinary people have been hugely affected in fundamental ways. There has been an explosion in the number of people who are neither full-time farmer nor full-time waged worker. They struggle to survive and ‘make ends meet’ by piecing together whatever low-paying, part-time jobs they can find wherever it may be. This is a common situation in many countries today: households reducing or minimizing their own consumption and foregoing formal schooling and health care, with some family members coming and going, piecing together different bits of low-waged labor in nearby towns or distant cities or abroad. Those who stay home tend to farms and gardens if they have land, raise animals or make handicrafts to sell, and raise the children and care for the sick and infirm or the elderly who can no longer work. In using the term 'working people' in this primer, we hope to capture this kind of situation and the dynamics that propel so many people into it. In the context of Myanmar and its long history of ethnic conflict, this stress on working people may seem to be missing the mark or leaving out a lot. But bringing into focus working people is not intended to deny or ignore ethnic and other social differences. Rather, it is also and at the same time to make visible what so many people despite other differences have in common -- the struggle to live a life filled with social and economic precarity and hardship and bereft of social insurance or social protections. Ultimately, at the heart of a truly federal democratic system is a difficult balancing act -- a strategic balancing of socioeconomic class issues and social-political identity issues. Both sets of concerns are complex on their own. Yet both are important. All over the world today (not just in Myanmar), there is deep injustice and rightful struggle around both. Staggering economic inequalities are fueling working people’s struggles for egalitarian distribution of wealth. Non-recognition or mis-recognition of certain ethnic, religious and sexual groups and of racial and gender differences is fueling ‘identity’-framed struggles for recognition. The two kinds of struggle often seem opposed to each other; we may feel pressure to choose between them. But the 5Rs starts from the belief that nei- ther struggle alone is sufficient for achieving deep social change. Advocating only for working people’s economic class interests without regard to ethnic identity concerns or advocating only for ethnic identity recognition without regard for the class position of working people within ethnic communities -- each ignores strategic issues. Class and ethnicity (along with other aspects of identity) are both integral parts of a single pillar; one without the other cannot constitute a pillar. Both types of injustice shape exploitation and subordination; and both types of struggles have emancipatory aspects. The 5R approach assumes that it is possible and necessary to integrate the emancipatory aspects of both struggles into a single frame. If we don’t, we risk impeding construction of a future federal democracy with equal rights and opportunities for all. Applying the five principles to the ‘land problem’ is necessary to defend against elitist efforts to thwart democratization of access and control of land and related natural resources. Even well-intentioned responses to Myanmar’s land problem can be undermined if they approach the problem with only one or two of the 5 Rs, or any combination less than all 5 Rs. It would be like trying to make a whole puzzle with a hundred pieces of the same shape. Deliberately linking all 5Rs together has the best chance of handling the complexities of the land problem in Myanmar today. It is designed to detect and address the multidimensional character of land-based injustice. Failure to do so will contribute to the process of loss of land and of the right to land for millions of working people all across Myanmar. It risks to exacerbate old and create new grievances, especially among ethnic nationality communities practicing customary tenure systems, thereby further contributing to and prolonging ethnic conflict and war. The stakes are thus very high. Rich country, poor people -- that is what Myanmar has been. It is rich in natural resources, but the proceeds from access to these resources remain in the hands of a very few -- most of whom are military or military-connected. This must change. Natural resources are essential for human life and the health of the planetary ecosystem. For decades, rural working people across Myanmar have been losing access to land and natural resources because of various processes of enclosure and dispossession -- commonly called ‘land grabbing’ -- and because of the socially differentiating currents of free market relations in the rural areas. This trend encompasses aquatic resources, forest resources, and land resources. Enclosures and dispossession have been facilitated by many laws that span diverse policy areas and ministries -- economic, investment, mining, forest, fisheries, agriculture, environment, conservation, land and natural resources. Shrinking access to land for working people is especially alarming because land is an entry point for accessing forest and aquatic resources too, and because working people need a range of access to an array of natural resources for their economic production and social reproduction activities. Yet people are resisting land grabbing. Civil society organizations (CSOs) across the country have studied and rejected laws and policies that facilitate dispossession and displacement. For example, the nationwide network called Land In Our Hands (LIOH or Doe Myay) has produced numerous analyses of existing laws and policies -- such as the government’s National Land Use Policy (2014 Draft); the 2012 Farmland Law and the amendments to this law proposed in 2017. In 2018, LIOH spearheaded a nationwide grassroots campaign against the government’s Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Law. More recently, in defense of customary land systems and practices including shifting cultivation, LIOH has shown how existing laws undermine these and offered recommendations on what is needed to support and promote them instead. CSOs have formulated pro-people alternatives that not only reflect realities and customs on the ground, but also internationally respected principles that they felt are relevant for them. In one notable example, CSOs from numerous ethnic groups across Shan State joined forces to research and document customary land systems and eventually to produce a joint report with their findings and recommendations. Similarly, a number of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have taken part in developing land policies that value inclusion, equity and an ecologically healthy future for all. One CSO network -- the Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG) -- developed a ‘roadmap for resource federalism’. These are all building blocks for a comprehensive national 5R program. Myanmar is now at a new crossroads. The February 2021 coup has made the need to forge new social foundations for a future multi-ethnic federal democratic system of government painfully clear. Now is the time to go deeper into imagining the substantive and inclusive agenda of that future -- e.g., providing deeper substance to a federal democratic system with a clear pro- working people agenda that is gender- and generation-sensitive. We assume that a core value of any positive future would be recognition that each and every person -- regardless of any differences between us -- is born with equal dignity and equal right to access the material, ecological, social and political conditions needed to live a flourishing life. Diverse kinds of access to an array of land and natural resources is part of what rural working people need to flourish. A 5R land and natural resource program can inspire different people affected differently by land and natural resource injustices to find common cause, and develop alternative land and natural resource policies that protect, support and promote the rights and needs of all the people of Myanmar..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute ( Amsterdam)
2021-07-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 2.18 MB (48 pages)
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Topic: Land grab; resistance; agrarian climate justice; Myanmar; Burma; democracy
Topic: Land grab; resistance; agrarian climate justice; Myanmar; Burma; democracy
Description: "ABSTRACT: The intersection between land grabs and climate change mitigation politics in Myanmar has created new political opportunities for scaling up, expanding and deepening struggles toward ‘agrarian climate justice’. Building on the concepts of ‘political opportunities’ and ‘rural democratization’ to understand how rural politics is relevant to national regime changes in the process of deepening democracy, this paper argues that scaling up beyond the local level becomes necessary to counter the concentration of power at higher levels. At the same time, this vertical process is inextricable from building horizontal networks and rooting struggles in communities. By looking at national-level land policy advocacy for more just land laws, accountability politics in mining at a regional level in the southern Tanintharyi region, and the bottom-up establishment of local indigenous territories, this paper illustrates how expanding these struggles becomes necessary, but is also accompanied by potential faultlines. These fault-lines include divergent political tendencies within the network and challenges to working in areas contested by the Burmese state and ethnic armed organizations.....Introduction: Political reactions ‘from below’ to what has been termed ‘the global land grab’ following the 2007/2008 financial crisis have been diverse, ranging from resistance to grabs and mobilizations across local, regional, national and transnational levels, to negotiations to improve compensation or for better terms of incorporation into land deals (Hall et al. 2015; Borras and Franco 2013). Attention has been given to the importance of ‘convergence’ across struggles, around common demands for system change, food sovereignty or climate justice as a strategy to strengthen demands against powerful actors (Tramel 2018; Mills 2018; Claeys and Delgado Pugley 2017). However, linking local and national struggles with transnational movements also brings accompanying tensions, as these have their own histories (Edelman and Borras 2016; Peluso, Afiff, and Rachman 2008). While studies have looked at different ways in which mobilizations have engaged with the state, this contribution looks specifically at the context of a national regime transition in Myanmar, namely from authoritarian militarism to nominal democracy, and how agrarian resistance shapes and is shaped by these changes at national level. Reforms in 2011/2012 in Myanmar under President Thein Sein intensified entry of capital into infrastructure, land and extractive industries, deepening liberalization policies that began in 1988 under the SLORC/SPDC governments. Open conflict still continues between the Burmese military and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in some areas. In others, ceasefires have created a situation of ‘neither war nor peace economy’, building on earlier rounds of ceasefires in the 1990s, in which the Burmese military steered EAOs toward businesses, granting them concessions as part of a strategy of political neutralization (Kramer forthcoming). The term ‘ceasefire capitalism’, has similarly been used to describe the entry of foreign and domestic capital into infrastructure development, large-scale land concessions, mining licenses and forest demarcation in previous conflict areas (Woods 2011). National elites linked to the military are consolidating a new form of crony capitalism, building on the historic concentration of power in businesses and conglomerates in what has sometimes been considered an emerging oligarchy (Jones 2014; Ford, Gillan, and Thein 2016). While these changes have created threats, they have also opened political opportunities for mobilizations ‘from below’, in the context of increased formal civil and political rights even as targeted repression through jailing and threatening of farmers and journalists still persists. New land laws, such as the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law (2012) and the Farmland Law (2012), facilitate the acquisition of land by powerful actors, but discussions around the National Land Use Policy (NLUP) have also created openings for actors ‘from below’ to influence policy-making and attempt to shift this balance of power (Franco and Ju 2016). Similarly, multi-stakeholder platforms such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) have created new frameworks for investment that can threaten existing livelihoods, but have also allowed civil society actors to push for greater participation. ‘Green grabs’, interconnected with land grabs (Fairhead, Leach, and Scoones 2012; Borras and Franco 2020), have threatened the livelihoods of forest users but have prompted grassroots to mobilize around indigenous rights (CAT 2018, 2020; Morton 2017). Prior to the recent political liberalization, there was a systematic weakness of social forces that could challenge the model of state-facilitated crony capitalism, such as labor organizations, the middle class or radical food-sovereignty or peasant movement (Jones 2014; Malseed 2008). However, recently there has been emerging ground level resistance by farmers through ploughing protests, collective judicial action against land grabs, regional CSOs helping farmers through networking and training, and other tactics such as letter writing, negotiations and protest (TNI 2015a; LIOH 2015). There have also been campaigns against large-scale dams and mining and palm oil concessions (ALARM et al. 2018; Tarkapaw et al. 2015; Suhardiman, Rutherford, and Bright 2017; Park 2019) and demands for the recognition of customary tenure systems in the ethnic borderland areas (CAT 2018, 2020; ECDF 2016). In this context, activists in Myanmar have found opportunities and challenges in strengthening local community-building while at the same time strengthening national-level mobilizing and advocacy. As this paper will argue, they are both necessary in the struggle toward ‘agrarian climate justice’ and in the wider process of deepening democracy. National-level advocacy can create ‘openings’..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: The Journal of Peasant Studies via Routledge (London)
2021-01-14
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 2.54 MB
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Topic: Gender; generation; social justice; agrarian transformation; environmental transformation; rural politics
Topic: Gender; generation; social justice; agrarian transformation; environmental transformation; rural politics
Description: "ABSTRACT: The changes that have swept rural Myanmar, transforming landscapes and affecting livelihoods, have ignited rural politics and civil society and grassroot organizations’ strategies to counter, resist, negotiate and adapt to these changes. Rural politics have centred on broad calls for agrarian and environmental rights and social justice that do not address women’s rights, gender and generational justice explicitly. Based on fieldwork carried out in Myanmar’s Taninthary region, and engagement with grassroots organizations, I examine how gender and generational power dynamics play out, transform and are transformed in processes of agrarian and environmental change and rural politics.....Introduction: In Myanmar, land and natural resources have been historically the focus of extractivist initiatives that benefited colonial administrations, central states, the military and powerful elites and deprived small farmers, fishers and forest-dependent groups, including ethnic groups, particularly women and girls, of access to natural resources, shelter and livelihoods (Karen Human Rights Group 2006, 2015; Tavoyan Women’s Union 2015; Barbesgaard 2019; see also Kramer forthcoming; Sekine forthcoming, this collection). Starting in 2012 the neoliberal orientation of recent civilian governments, discursively legitimized by agendas for economic growth, sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation, has bolstered this tendency. Since 2011, legal reforms in the areas of land use, land conversion, and investments have facilitated the entrance and operations of international capital and investors in the country. In addition, the 2012 preliminary ceasefire between the Union Government (UG) and several Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) has enabled access of domestic and foreign capital to once secluded areas, including Tanintharyi region in the South, which had long been a hotspot of conflict and ethnic insurgency and had thus remained relatively isolated (Bryant 1994; Malseed 2009; Woods 2015a, 2015b). The surge of extractive and infrastructure development initiatives, combined with conservation plans to restrict access to protected and designated areas, have accelerated the transformation of Myanmar’s rural landscapes and livelihoods. This, in turn, has sparked civil society and grassroots organizations’ strategies and actions to resist, negotiate and adapt to these changes. Members of affected communities, often with support from grassroots and local civil society organizations, have resisted, mobilized and strategized on ways to advance their own counter-visions of development (Park 2019). Coupled with opportunities to engage in ‘contentious politics’ (Tarrow 1994; Tilly 2002, 2004) as noted in the introductory article of this Special Issue, the mobilization from below has expanded the repertoire of ‘contentious performances’ that are being developed dynamically and in conversation with the political, social and economic context (Tilly 2002, 2004). In Myanmar, just like in other countries in the region, women and men, young and old, have taken active part in these political struggles; women, notably, have been at the forefront of protests and diverse forms of activism, often at the cost of their bodily integrity and the breakdown in family relations. Research from other countries confirms that women, including older women, participated in protests often as a strategy to curb violent repression and retaliation by the military and the police, to protect their sons and husbands, and in some cases as activists in their own right (see for example, Brickell 2014; Lamb et al. 2017; Park and Maffii 2017; Tavoyan Women’s Union 2015; Morgan 2017). While these changes affect different people, including their political agency, in ways that are mediated by gender, age, ethnicity and other social and power differences, the urgency and fluidity of the issues on the ground requires cohesion in mobilization and swift action. Partly because of this, rural politics have tended to centre on broad calls for agrarian and environmental rights and social justice that do not address women’s rights, gender equality and generational justice explicitly. Women’s groups have also been often side-lined; whereas youth have been engaged by environmental and ethnic grassroots groups within the frame of well-defined scripts that do not challenge power, gender and age hierarchies. The exclusion of women’s groups and gender equality from agrarian and environmental justice movements, and the reasons underlying it, have been highlighted by many feminist scholars (see for example, Harris 2015; Park 2018; Deere 2003; Stephen 2006; Krishna 2015) who have called for urgent convergence to avoid the risk that movements for social justice could be void of gender and generational justice. Krishna (2015), for example, notes that in India some of the larger movements that have led to state formation have failed to recognize women’s claims for gender justice in spite of their conspicuous participation and even leadership. In the Andes, Harris (2015, 171) highlights the disconnect between feminist and indigenous and other movements and calls for a better articulation of ‘feminist analytics and organizing’, advocating for going beyond women’s engagement towards adoption of a feminist agenda that questions power structures. The fight against patriarchy has also been central to the demands of peasant women in international movements such as La Via Campesina. This article explores the potential of rural politics to be catalytic of change that promotes gender and generational justice and contributes to making the case for the need for not one but multiple convergences – feminist political ecology with feminist political economy, agrarian and environmental movements with feminist movements. Based on fieldwork conducted in Tanintharyi between 2014 and 2018 and engagement with local grassroots organizations, I examine how gender and generational power dynamics play out, transform and are transformed in processes of agrarian and environmental change and rural politics. I look at the conditions that support a (re)negotiation of gender roles and relations and how these could be conducive to gender-transformative rural politics, that is, politics that fosters gender equality and generational justice as a key dimension of social change and social justice (Cornwall 2014)..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: The Journal of Peasant Studies via Routledge (London)
2021-01-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 2.53 MB
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Description: "Rakhine State, historically known as Arakan, represents the post-colonial failures of Myanmar in microcosm: ethnic conflict, political impasse, militarisation, economic neglect and the marginalisation of local peoples. During the past decade, many of these challenges have gathered a new intensity, accentuating a Buddhist-Muslim divide and resulting in one of the greatest refugee crises in the modern world. A land of undoubted human and natural resource potential, Rakhine State has become one of the poorest territories in the country today. The current crisis is often characterised as a “Buddhist Rakhine” versus “Muslim Rohingya” struggle for political rights and ethnic identity. But the challenges of achieving democracy, equality and the right of self-determination have always been more complex and nuanced than this. Arakan’s vibrant history reflects its frontline position on a cultural and geo-political crossroads in Asia. Taking a narrative approach, this report seeks to analyse the challenges facing Rakhine State and its peoples during a critical time of transition from military rule. As always in Myanmar, a balanced understanding of local societies and perspectives is essential in a territory that reflects different ethnic, religious and political viewpoints. In the case of Rakhine State, the social and political challenges facing the peoples have been little documented or understood. Decades of civil war and international isolation have resulted in a dearth of reporting on the ethnic conflicts and governmental failures that have had a devastating impact on the ground. Equally resonant, the instabilities in Arakan cannot be separated from the challenges of peace and inclusion for all peoples and faiths in the sub-Asian region..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI) ( Netherlands)
2019-12-18
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 7.9 MB 5.54 MB
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Description: "Across the world, peasants, pastoralists, fishers, and indigenous peoples are losing their once effective control over the land, water, wetlands, pastures, fishing grounds and forests on which they depend including the right to decide how these natural resources will be used, when and by whom, at what scale and for what purposes, often for generations to come. This process known as landgrabbing takes place through different mechanisms (concessions, long-term leases, contract farming), involving different actors (public, private, foreign, domestic) and for different reasons (including for agricul- ture, forestry, energy, mining, industry, infrastructure, real estate, tourism, and conservation).1 In this process, existing uses and meanings of land and territories are overridden, shifting from locally adapted, culturally appropriate, mostly small-scale and labour intensive use towards more large-scale, capital-intensive and extractive forms of resource appropriation. The implications of this model of development in terms of human rights, rural livelihoods, food security, and ecology have been well documented. The role of the European Union (EU) in landgrabbing is manifold. EU actors are involved in the financing of large-scale land deals worldwide. This occurs through forms of private finance (companies, banks, pension funds, hedge funds, brokerage firms, insurance groups), public finance (development finance and other state sponsored projects), and increasingly through a combination of both in the shape of public-private partnerships, multi-stakeholder initiatives, and other forms of blended finance’. Figures 1 and 2 provide an overview of the involvement of EU investors in large-scale land deals in the global South..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI) ( Netherlands)
2019-09-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
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Sub-title: A Commentary by TNI on the Right to Land of People Displaced by War and Militarization
Description: "Displaced people in Myanmar have been suffering layer upon layer of injustice over the past decades. Today the situation is as bad as ever. “In Myanmar, people are suffering from the fighting, while the government is also trying to manipulate and divide the displaced people. Some people go back, some remain in the IDP camps. It’s like a hell in the country.” (Internally Displaced Person (IDP) meeting, 13 August 2019, Myitkyina) This is how one IDP, displaced since 2011, recently described the current situation in the north of the country. In both the north and the east of Myanmar, displaced people have been suffering layer upon layer of injustice over the past decades. Today the situation is as bad as ever. Ongoing conflict, militarization and business-oriented mega-projects continue to drive fresh displacements, while keeping those displaced previously from returning to their homes, farms, forests and villages. Since 2010, a raft of national laws and policies has been enacted regarding land, forests, conservation and investment. They do not, however, reflect the needs or the rights of people who have been displaced. There is currently no law that properly addresses the terrible situation confronting displaced people by recognising the right of IDPs and refugees to restitution based on their right to land. Instead, current government policy seems to be encouraging re-allocation of the lands of IDPs and refugees to business interests. Key areas include agriculture, mining, industry, infrastructure and even ecotourism, whether in the pristine islands in the far south or the majestic mountains in the far north......၂၀၁၆ ခုနှစ်မှစ၍ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အနယ်နယ်အရပ်ရပ်မှ ပြည်တွင်းနေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ စစ်ဘေးတိမ်းရှောင်ခဲ့သူများနှင့် စစ်ဘေးဒုက္ခသည်များအပြင်၎င်းတို့ကိုအနီးကပ်ပံ့ပိုးကူညီပေးလျက်ရှိသည့်နယ်ခံအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ အတူတကွ စုစည်း၍ ၎င်းတို့၏ နေရပ်ပြန်ရေးနှင့် မူလရပိုင်ခွင့်ပြန်လည်ရရှိရေးဆိုင်ရာ မြေယာကိစ္စရပ်များကို အတူတကွ ဆွေးနွေးအဖြေရာ၍ စည်းရုံးရေးဆိုမည့်လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်တစ်ရပ်ကိုဝိုင်းဝန်ဖော်ဆောင်လာခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ စစ်ပွဲဒဏ်သင့်လာခဲ့သည့် နိုင်ငံတစ်ခု၏ ရလဒ်အနေဖြင့် တိုင်းရင်း သားရပ်ရွာအသိုက်အဝန်းပေါင်းများစွာ မူရင်းရပ်ရွာဒေသများကို စွန့်ခွာထွက်ပြေးခဲ့ကြရပြီး မိမိတို့၏ မြေယာ ပိုင်ဆိုင်ခွင့်အပါအဝင် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအားလုံးနီးပါး ထိခိုက်နစ်နာခဲ့ရသည်။ မြေယာပိုင်ဆိုင်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးကို အနှစ်သာရရှိရှိဖြင့် အပြည့်အဝအသိအမှတ်ပြုမှုအပါအဝင်IDPs နှင့် Refugees များအတွက်တရားမျှတမှုရှာ ဖွေရာ၌ စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများစွာ ကြုံတွေ့ရလျက်ရှိသည်။ ဤကဲ့သို့သော စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများကြောင့် ကချင်၊ ကရင်နီ၊ ကရင်၊ မွန်နှင့် ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်(၅)ခုမှ ပြည်တွင်းနေရပ်စွန့်ခွာ စစ်ဘေးတိမ်းရှောင်သူများနှင့် စစ်ဘေးဒုက္ခသည်များအပါအဝင်၎င်းတို့ကို ကူညီထောက်ပံ့ပေးလျက်ရှိသည့် ပြည်တွင်းအရပ်ဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်း များမှ ကိုယ်စားလှယ်များသည်အထူးသဖြင့်IDPs နှင့် Refugees များ၏ မြေယာရပိုင်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးနှင့် ပတ် သက်၍ ကြုံတွေ့ရလျက်ရှိသည့် စိန်ခေါ်မှုအခက်အခဲများနှင့် အတွေ့အကြုံများကို အစဉ်တစိုက်ဆွေးနွေးအဖြေ ရှာလာခဲ့ကြပြီး လာမည့်အနာဂတ်၌ မဟာဗျူဟာကျကျ တုန့်ပြန်ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်မည့် နည်းလမ်းများကို ဆွေးနွေး ဖော်ထုတ်၍ ၂၀၁၉ ခုနှစ် သြဂုန်လ ၂၁ ရက်နေ့၌ ဤသဘောထားကြောညာစာတမ်းကိုထုတ်ပြန်လိုက်ခြင်း ဖြစ်ပါသည်။..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "TNI"
2019-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 172.8 KB 299.19 KB
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Description: "The Magway Region government has announced plans to form a commission to investigate the deaths of at least 26 villagers in a melee sparked by a dispute over farming land in Yenangyaung Township on July 23. Most of the fatalities occurred when a boat capsized on the Ayeyarwady River during the confrontation between the residents of Phaye Kyun and Kantha villages over a disputed plot of 2.8 hectares (seven acres) on an alluvial island in the waterway. The victims of the clash included a 13-year-old schoolboy and a 55-year-old man. More than 46 people remained missing as of July 27, officials said. The dispute had its genesis in August 2017, when the government resettled the 30 households of Kantha village to a new site near the disputed land because their old village was threatened by riverbank erosion. The disputed plot is on alluvial land, which is defined under the Farmland Law as an unstable area of sand that is flooded during the monsoon and prone to change shape. In August 2018, the residents of Phaye Kyun village, about three miles from the disputed plot, complained to the General Administration Department in Yenangyaung Township that Kantha villagers were building houses on the disputed land, which is claimed by Phaye Kyun residents. Phaye Kyun villagers were dissatisfied with the response to their complaint. The next month, village elders and others held talks with township GAD officials at a meeting attended by about 250 residents. The meeting was inconclusive and Phaye Kyun villagers continued to push for a resolution. Between 2018 and 2019 they raised their concerns in two letters to the township GAD, and one each to the district GAD, the Magway regional government and to the Magway Region Minister of Border Affairs..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Frontier Myanmar
2019-07-29
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Evaluation contributes to accountability and lessons learning and should lead to improved management decision-making and performance. For evaluation to play its roles, among other measures and procedures, there needs to be careful consideration of evaluation recommendations as a basis for management decisions. Since 2006, FAO evaluation policy establishes that all evaluations in FAO must receive a Management Response (MR) and a Follow-up report (FR). Standardized and assured quality in the Organization’s responses and follow-up reports on evaluations enhances the transparency of the evaluation process and enables drawing lessons on the effectiveness of, and compliance with the corporate evaluation policy. This guidance note outlines the roles and responsibilities for the preparation of these reports. FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) is also aware that the evaluation reports themselves need to facilitate decision by management on recommendations and follow-up. Thus OED, in fulfilling its quality assurance function, will endeavour to ensure that evaluation recommendations are expressed clearly and unambiguously. All queries on these procedures should be addressed to the Director, Office of Evaluation..."
Source/publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
2018-04-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 779.89 KB
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Description: ''Across the world, the livelihoods and well-being of rural communities have, since time immemorial, been assured through their customary land and resource management systems. Myanmar is no exception, and these systems have been especially valued in ethnic upland areas. Although increasingly under pressure, these systems still widely continue more or less intact, and continue to retain social legitimacy. Customary tenure systems involve rural communities asserting authority over their local land and resources within their village areas, allocating rights and regulating access and use according to traditional cultural norms. At the simplest these institutions are codified social norms around resource access, and as such have existed across just about every inhabited landscape in the world. They often involve the coordination of farming activities like planting, harvesting and grazing. They are based on a strong local identification with place and ecological landscape, and have evolved dynamically over the long term, giving rise to unique cultural landscapes. They tend to be sophisticated, flexible, and practical in terms of combining common and private rights and responsibilities across diverse resources. Beyond individual villages, they can play a key role in agreeing to inter-village boundaries, and regulating across clusters of villages who gets access to what resources, when and how. They can manage disputes both within and between villages in ways which have cultural legitimacy and embody principles of social justice. Their effectiveness is reflected in how highly valued they are by the communities who rely on them, and they evolve as the social composition and economic needs of the communities evolve and change over time...''
Creator/author: Oliver Springate-Baginski
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2019-03-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-03-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 482.68 KB
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Description: ''Hundreds of civil society organizations are mobilizing in opposition to the government’s implementation of the VFV Land Law due to the expectation that the law will facilitate land grabbing and land conflict. One statement explains that the VFV Land Management Central Committee’s notification of 30 October 2018 requires that anyone using the VFV land register receives permission to continue using the land.2 This requirement creates serious uncertainties for a large portion of Myanmar’s population. If they do register their land, they will lose their historical and traditional rights to it, instead receiving a 30-year use permit. If they do not register the land, they risk eviction or penalties of imprisonment for two years and/or a 500,000 kyats fine. The government has reportedly estimated that 45 million acres qualify as VFV land, 82% of which is in the ethnic nationality states, threatening the livelihoods and survival of an unknown number of persons throughout the country.3 CSOs have pointed out the ways that the VFV Land Law will threaten pre-existing land tenure, will facilitate land grabbing, and will cause land conflicts to increase.4 Three hundred and forty-six organizations signed onto a statement saying, “Instead of accepting and enacting this law, the fundamental priority must instead be to effectively recognize customary practices and communal land rights, and to safeguard the interest of the peoples depending on land.”5 This statement and a recent statement by internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kachin and northern Shan States point out that the law will negatively affect persons displaced by conflict, who already face challenges in holding on to their ancestral lands...''
Creator/author: Jason Gelbort
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2018-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: ''After a spout of optimism surrounding Myanmar’s so-called democratic transition in the post-2010 period, more recent work by CSOs and academics have emphasized the rampant and violent processes of land and ocean grabbing that this transition is facilitating. Drawing on a case from Northern Tanintharyi in the Southeast of the country, this article attempts to historicize contemporary accounts of these grabbing processes. Developing a landscape-approach, it supports recent academic calls to move beyond the focus on a single resource or a single case and instead under- stand ‘grabs’ in relation to broader processes of agrarian-environmental transformations. Emphasis is placed on the ‘control-grabbing’ aspect of this ongoing transformation. The article shows how the control-grabbing of both ocean- and land-space facilitated the state’s appropriation of rent from productive capital in the fisheries and offshore gas sector, while bolstering state sovereignty over historically contested spaces. For villagers on the ground, this has had widespread ramifications, differentiated along lines of class and gender. Explaining and describing this longer-term agrarian-environmental transformation of the landscape helps to ground existing accounts of the managed nature of Myanmar’s current transition. In so doing, the article also questions the efficacy of prevailing policy proposals for how to solve the ensuing conflicts over and in the landscape...''
Creator/author: Mads Barbesgaard
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2018-11-20
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 310.75 KB
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Description: ''The 2012 land laws do not take into account the existing land tenure situation in ethnic areas where shifting cultivation in the uplands is common and where few have formally-recognized land titles, not to mention national identity cards. Indeed, the new laws do not recognize customary and communal land rights at all. Nor do they consider the right of return of hundreds of thousands of ethnic villagers who have been displaced from their ancestral lands due to the decades-old conflict and economic marginalisation. Consequently, the new laws are seen as exclusively benefitting the private sector, particularly large foreign investors, at the expense of smallholder farmers, who make up three-quarters of the population...'' ''၂၀၁၂ ခုနှစ် မြေယာဥပဒေများသည် ကုန်းမြင့်တောင်တန်းဒေသများ၌ ရွှေ့ပြောင်းတောင်ယာကို အစဉ်အဆက် စိုက်ပျိုးလာခဲ့ကြပြီး နိုင်ငံသားစိစစ်ရေးကဒ်ပင်မရှိကြဘဲ အနည်းအကျဉ်းခန့်သာ မြေယာဆိုင်ရာ တရားဝင်စာ ရွက်အထောက်အထားရှိသည့် တိုင်းရင်းသားနယ်မြေများ၌ ကျင့်သုံးလျက်ရှိသည့် မြေယာလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အခင်းအ ကျင်းကို ထည့်သွင်းစဉ်းစားထားခြင်းမရှိပေ။ ထို့အပြင် ဥပဒေသစ်များသည် ဓလေ့ထုံးတမ်းဆိုင်ရာနှင့် စုပေါင်း မြေယာအခွင့်အရေးများကို လုံးဝအသိအမှတ်ပြုထားခြင်းမရှိပေ။ ဆယ်စုနှစ်ပေါင်းများစွာ ဖြစ်ပွားလာခဲ့သည့် လက်နက်ကိုင်ပဋိပက္ခနှင့် စီးပွားရေးလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်မရရှိခဲ့ကြသဖြင့် မိမိတို့၏ ဘိုးဘွားပိုင်မြေများမှ စွန့်ခွာခဲ့ကြရ သည့် သိန်းပေါင်းများစွာသော တိုင်းရင်းသူတိုင်းရင်းသားများ၏ နေရပ်ပြန်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးကိုပင်လျှင် ထည့် သွင်းစဉ်းစားပေးထားခြင်းမရှိပေ။ နောက်ဆက်တွဲအနေဖြင့် ဥပဒေသစ်များသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံလူဦးရေ၏ သုံးပုံ နှစ်ပုံကျော်သည့် လက်လုပ်လက်စားတောင်သူများကိုချနှင်း၍ ပုဂ္ဂလိကကဏ္ဍ အထူးသဖြင့် အကြီးစား နိုင်ငံခြားရင်းနှီးမြှုပ်နှံသူများကိုသာလျှင် အလုံးစုံအကျိုးခံစားခွင့်ပြုထားသကဲ့သို့ဖြစ်လာသည်။...''
Creator/author: Khun Oo, Khun Kaung
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2017-04-06
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 489.23 KB 105.59 KB
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Description: ''A Memorandum of Understanding to establish the China Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) was signed by the governments of Myanmar and China in September 2018. The CMEC forms part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a 21st century reimagining of the ancient Silk Road, the network of land and sea trade routes that once linked Imperial China with markets in the west. The Chinese posit BRI as "a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future", but there are many who perceive it as nothing more than a form of neocolonialism, a thinly-veiled attempt at gaining dominance on the world stage. The very act of rebranding the initiative Belt and Road, taking the word "One" out of its original name [“One Belt, One Road”], is seen as an attempt to address this negative impression...''
Creator/author: Lahpai Seng Raw
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2019-01-10
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး တိုးတက်ဖြစ်ထွန်းမှုကို အထောက်အကူပြုရန်အတွက် လူထုလူတန်းစားများ၏ မြေ ယာရပိုင်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးများကို မဖြစ်မနေအကာအကွယ်ပေးရမည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်အစိုးရ၏ မြေယာမူဝါဒအပေါ် ချဉ်းကပ်မှုပုံစံသည် မြေယာပဋိပက္ခများ တိုးပွားလာ စေပြီး တရားဝင်ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေး စေ့စပ်ညှိနှိုင်းရာ၌ လက်ရှိကြုံတွေ့ရလျက်ရှိသည့် စိန်ခေါ်မှုများကို ပိုမို ဖိတ်ခေါ်လျက်ရှိသည်။ အရပ်ဖက်လူမှုအဖွဲ့အ စည်းများကလည်း လတ်တလောပြင်ဆင်ခဲ့သည့် မြေလွတ်၊ မြေလပ်နှင့် မြေရိုင်းစီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးဥပဒေ (VFV မြေယာဥပဒေ)ကို အကောင်အထည်ဖော်ခြင်းဖြင့် ကျေးလက်နေလူထုလူတန်းစားများကို ၎င်းတို့၏ ဘိုးဘွားပိုင်နယ်မြေများမှ နေရပ်စွန့်ခွာတိမ်းရှောင်ရစေပြီး ဓလေ့ထုံးတမ်းဆိုင်ရာ မြေယာ ရပိုင်ခွင့်အခွင့်အရေးများ ချိနှဲ့အားနည်းသွားစေရန် တွန်းအားပေးလိမ့်မည်ဟူသည့် ကြောင်းကျိုးဆီ လျော်သည့် စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်မှုပေါ်အခြေခံ၍ အကောင်အထည်ဖော်မှုကို အပြင်းအထန်ကန့်ကွက်လျက် ရှိသည်။ 1 နေပြည်တော်၏ ဥပဒေပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုသည် လက်ရှိငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးလုပ်ငန်းစဉ်၏ ရည် မှန်းချက်နှင့် တစ်နိုင်ငံလုံးအပစ်အခတ်ရပ်စဲရေးသဘောတူစာချုပ်(NCA)ပါ ကတိကဝတ်များနှင့် ဆန့်ကျင်သွေဖယ်လျက်ရှိကြောင်း ဤအချက်က သက်သေပြလျက်ရှိသည်။ ထို့အပြင် NCA ၌ သ ဘောတူလက်မှတ် ရေးထိုးထားခြင်းမရှိသေးသည့် နယ်မြေဒေသပေါင်းများစွာလည်း ကျန်ရှိနေဆဲ ဖြစ်သည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အစိုးရတစ်ရပ်အနေဖြင့် အပြောင်းအလဲဆီသို့ ဦးတည်ချဉ်းကပ်ရာ၌ မြေယာ ရပိုင်ခွင့် အခွင့်အရေးများကို ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ပေးရန်နှင့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးတိုးတက်ဖြစ်ထွန်းလာ စေမည့် ယုံကြည်မှုတိုးတက်ခိုင်မာလာအောင် တည်ဆောက်သွားရန် မဖြစ်မနေလိုအပ်ပါသည်။...''
Creator/author: Jason Gelbort
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2019-01-07
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), English
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Description: "The KNU released a statement on December 15 calling for the elimination of the newly enacted “Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Land Management Law (VFV)” pointing out that it is not in line with the principles of democracy or federal standards. The KNU statement said that the VFV law contradicts the KNU’s land policy and it violates the accords made in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, especially Article 9, Chapter 3 on the protection of civilian and Article 25 (a-1) of Chapter 6. The KNU urges the government to review, amend, eliminate and rewrite the land law to make it comply with recognized principles of democracy and federal standards. Padoh Saw Nay Thablay, a member of KNU’s Central Land Committee and head of the Karen Agriculture Department spoke to Karen News..."
Creator/author: Saw Thein Myint
2018-12-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''Over the past decade, Displacement Solutions has undertaken extensive research aimed at shedding light on the numerous housing, land and property (HLP) rights issues facing the people of Myanmar. Through these efforts DS aims to build the capacity of the people of Myanmar to exercise and enforce their HLP rights. To this end, DS provides practical guidance to citizens and their governments through the development of institutional and policy frameworks, guiding principles and practical steps which seek to reduce, eliminate and redress HLP rights abuses. The following eleven books and reports were published with the intent of informing and aiding the Myanmar government, key ethnic actors, humanitarian organisations and citizens on the importance of HLP rights within Myanmar. The documents outlined here are just a portion of DS' research efforts concerning the country. Many of our other papers and reports on more sensitive themes have intentionally been kept internal by the organisations and institutions for whom they were prepared. These publications cover topics spanning national policy development on land grabbing and speculation, recommendations for the development of a comprehensive HLP rights framework within Myanmar, the manner in which HLP rights can be addressed during peace negotiations as well as land rights in relation to mine action. The most recent report outlines the need for the government of Myanmar to establish a Myanmar National Climate Land Bank to pre-emptively address the threats of climate displacement. Throughout the past ten years, DS has had the privilege of working with an extraordinary group of legal experts, local groups and donors, and would like to thank them all once again for their collective efforts to make Myanmar a country where housing, land and property rights are enjoyed in full by everyone. Finally, a special thanks to Hannah Crothers and Amy Pattle from Monash Law School for their assistance in preparing this overview...''
Creator/author: Scott Leckie
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions
2018-06-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 243.14 KB
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Description: ''The sun sets over a village in rural Myanmar, where a group of men and women discuss a recent announcement they have seen posted in the distant Township Office. The notice refers to a company’s claims on certain parcels of land that the villagers’ families have been cultivating for decades. According to the notice, such land is now officially classified as vacant; some of the land has already been fenced off and used to cultivate rubber. The deadline for objections mentioned in the letter had passed long before any of the affected farmers realised what was going on. Some of the villagers, who used to cultivate this land but were displaced, live elsewhere and are unaware of the situation. What is to be done? The need for HLP restitution Ten years after the enactment of Myanmar’s new Constitution in 2008 and the start of the period of government transition, the quest for peace and for real and effective remedies for past and present land grabbing and displacement continues despite some positive – albeit tentative – steps being taken by the government. During the civil wars, entire villages were forcibly displaced, with people also suffering forced labour and gender-based violence.1 The legal framework continues to be a complicated mix of colonial-era legislation and newer laws, with the latter clearly designed to favour private investment and widespread land acquisition without adequate safeguards to protect the rights of farmers and their families.2 Laws governing land acquisition disproportionately favour the State, the military and companies which have close relationships with or are otherwise favoured by these entities, and pay less attention to the rights of affected people and communities...''
Creator/author: José Arraiza and Scott Leckie
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions
2018-02-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 334.75 KB
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Description: ''The government of Myanmar has officially committed itself to respecting these rights. The most well-known international human rights document, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR, 1948), applies to every country and includes the first-ever mention in a global document of the ‘right to adequate housing’ in its Article 25(1). The Declaration creates obligations for the government of Myanmar. Additionally, in October 2017, the Myanmar government committed to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (1966). Article 11(1) of s and commits all government authorities – at the Union, state and local levels – to comply with its terms. In 1991, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted ‘General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing’ which interprets Article 11(1) of the ICESCR. It lists the following seven components form the core contents of the human right to adequate housing: (a) legal security of tenure; (b) availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; (c) location; (d) habitability; (e) affordability; (f) accessibility; and (g) cultural adequacy. If you do not have any of these guarantees in place, your right to adequate housing is not yet in place. Everyone in the country, therefore, can legally demand that their HLP rights guaranteed by the UDHR, the ICESCR and other treaties that create additional rights, are fully complied with by all public officials in Myanmar, and that new national laws recognising these are put in place as promised...''
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions
2018-11-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.25 MB
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Description: "တလၢၤကီၣ်စဲၣ်၊ ဘံလ့ကီၢ်ဆၣ် အလူလ့သ၀ီအပူၤ ကသံၣ်ဒၢးလီၢ်လၢတၢ်ပပာ်ပနီၣ်ဃာ်လၢအပူၤကွံာ်န့ၣ် ဒ်သိးကန့ၢ်အဂီၢ် သ၀ီဖိကမျၢၢ်တဖၣ် မၤ၀ဲတၢ်ဒုးသ့ၣ်ညါ တၢ်ကစီၣ်ဖိအမူးတခါဒီး ပာ်ဖျါထီၣ်ဃုာ်တၢ်ဘၣ်သးတၢ်ဟူးတၢ်ဂဲၤတခါ ဖဲလါယနူၤအါရံၤ၁သီအနံၤန့ၣ်လီၤႉ ကသံၣ်ဒၢးအလီၢ်၀ဲန့ၣ်အခဲအံၤ ၦၤလၢလဲၤအိၣ်တဖၣ်တအဲၣ်ဒိးက့ၤဟ့ၣ်ကဒါက့ၤ၀ဲတၢ်လီၢ်၀ဲန့ၣ်ဘၣ်ဒီး အ၀ဲသ့ၣ်ဘၣ်ထုးထီၣ်ပာ်ဖျါ၀ဲ တၢ်ဘၣ်သးဒ်သိးအံၤန့ၣ်လီၤအဂ့ၢ်ၦၤတီခိၣ်ရိၣ်မဲတၢ်တဂၤလၢအမ့ၢ် အလူလ့သ၀ီဖိ ဒီၤနွဲးလ့တဲဘၣ် ခ့ၣ်အဲးစံၣ် ကညီတၢ်ကစီၣ်န့ၣ်လီၤႉ..."
Source/publisher: KIC (Karen Information Center)
2019-01-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Sgaw Karen
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Description: "It became undeniably clear that Burma?s peace negotiation process would not result in the establishment of "a new democratic federal union" following the second 21st Century Panglong Conference1 (21CPC), held in May 2017. The objective of the 2nd 21CPC was to create a forum where representatives of the Burma Army, also known as the Tatmadaw, Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), political parties, government, parliament and other stakeholders could negotiate a set of principles to guide the formation of a democratic federal union. This briefer analyses the peace negotiation process using dialogue over land management powers as a case study, by tracing original demands and negotiations related to land from the Karen ethnic-level national political dialogues held in January 2017 up to the 21CPC in May 2017. The land policy principles ?agreed” during the 2nd 21CPC contradict the recommendations developed through Karen national-level political dialogues, which clearly called for local ownership and state land management powers..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Karen Peace Support Network
2018-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2018-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: I. HOUSING, LAND AND PROPERTY ISSUES AND CONFLICT: CAUSE, CONSEQUENCE AND CURE... II. HLP ISSUES IN THE MYANMAR PEACE PROCESS AND HOW BEST TO ADDRESS THEM... III. PEACE AND POST-CONFLICT AGREEMENTS AND HLP ISSUES: A COUNTRY-BY- COUNTRY OVERVIEW... IV. CONCLUSIONS....."Any successful outcome to the peace process in Myanmar will invariably need to address the wide range of housing, land and property (HLP) rights issues that are central components in all of the unresolved conflicts in the country. At least superficially, there is growing evidence that various actors engaged in the peace process are increasingly recognising that the resolution of HLP rights issues will be critical towards building the foundations needed for the long-term peace and stability of the country. The agreement of ten key land and environment principles at the May 2017 Panglong 2 Summit by the government and ethnic negotiating armed ethnic groups provides an important basis for further agreement on HLP issues as the process unfolds. This paper aims to bolster this process by providing a brief overview of how HLP matters have been addressed in other peace processes throughout the world over the past 25 years, some of which may prove inspirational to peace negotiators in Myanmar. There is a wide range of experience about how and in which manner HLP issues have been included in peace agreements, and HLP issues are increasingly recognized for their multi-dimensional impacts upon conflict. Indeed, HLP issues can be the cause of conflict, a consequence of conflict, and an important means for securing a sustainable peace following conflict. HLP concerns and the human rights and other considerations attached to them are now widely agreed to form vital ingredients in the quest for long-term economic vitality and social stability following conflict. As a result, HLP issues are growing in prominence and are now viewed as key considerations in conflict prevention and peacebuilding initiatives... Despite the fact that virtually all recent major peace processes and post-conflict periods of reconstruction in other countries have sought to structurally address the severe HLP consequences of the conflict concerned, there is a significant risk in Myanmar that because of the deep vested interests attached to so many of them, HLP issues will be perceived as too sensitive or complex to be properly addressed in any eventual agreement. It is important, therefore, to foster awareness about HLP issues among those engaged in, or supporting , negotiations and planning for the post-conflict period. Without adequate preparation of all stakeholders involved in, or supporting, the negotiation process, a national level settlement may be undermined by local level HLP grievances and conflicts. In the alternative scenario, in which there is no national level agreement, an alternative strategy for sensitizing actors to HLP risks and opportunities will nonetheless be required..."
Source/publisher: Norwegian Refugee Council, Displacement Solutions
2018-02-08
Date of entry/update: 2018-02-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 466.18 KB
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Description: "This article explores some of the realities of supporting income generation for displaced people in conflict settings, drawing on experiences in Kachin, northern Myanmar, suggesting development and humanitarian actors need to better acknowledge limitations and rethink our approaches. Since the 2011 resumption of war between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatamadaw), over 100,000 people continue to be displaced, predominantly from rural, agricultural settings, into urban-based camps with little to no access to land. Ongoing fighting and insecurity means returns home are largely impossible. Escalating armed conflict since mid 2016 and continuing today has displaced or re-displaced over 6,000 people in Kachin, stretching declining humanitarian resources further as needs increase. Speak with any displaced person and lack of income is one of their primary concerns. But options are limited, and vulnerable to outside shocks. In the shift from farming to urban settings, making an income is difficult, exacerbated by internally displaced persons? (IDPs) arrival creating labour market saturation. This can also create tension between host communities and IDPs, especially through labour market competition and contestation over resources, often as basic as firewood. The importance of income is about both the material benefit and improving social cohesion..."
Creator/author: Dustin Barter
Source/publisher: "New Mandala"
2017-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This policy note on Land Policy and Regulatory Framework in Myanmar is the first of five policy notes prepared under the Land Sector Needs Assessment technical assistance initiative between the World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the General Administration Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Yangon City Development Committee. It is intended to assess and inform the land related discourse in Myanmar on the status of governance and administration of land with strategic options and recommendations on the way forward. The policy notes aim to promote consensus over priorities under the following five key themes of the land sector: (i) Land Policy and Regulatory Framework; (ii) Forestland Administration and Management; (iii) Land Administration; (iv) Geospatial Infrastructure and Services; and (v) Property Valuation and Taxation....Key elements for effective policy and regulatory framework on land that should be developed are: *Developing an effective land governance system should begin by using of the current legal framework to implement new land policies such as: (i) protections for customary users? tenure rights; (ii) the promotion of diverse agricultural practices such as livestock breeding and aquaculture; (iii) directing land allocation policies to improve land access for marginal farmers and landless households; (iv) and establishing programs such as a model land office to guide the development of a national land administration system that covers all areas (rural, urban, forest) and all tenure types (individual, group, communal). * The establishment of a union-level body or council to carry out the National Land Use Policy and allow land sector coordination between land related line ministries. * The amendment of current land laws to expand the roles of farmers and community members in land use decision * The promotion of the revised community forest instruction, which broadly reinterpreted the forest law to remove restrictions on shifting cultivation to protect customary land NOTE: Stakeholder and governmental consultations/workshop will be held for reviewing the draft policy notes in September, 2017 in Yangon and in Nay Pyi Taw, and the policy notes will be finalized by the end of 2017. ?Developing an effective land governance system” in Myanmar is essential to the economic success as the new government sets priorities and implements reforms since nearly 70% of the population is rural and relies upon agriculture for their livelihoods.... POLICY NOTE 1: Land Policy and Regulatory Framework rights and to protect in community decision making on land use, allocation and possible conversion to commercial use; including promotion of community forests and commercialization for inclusive economic growth at the grassroots level. *The establishment of an open, multi-stakeholder process for making land governance decisions that includes civil society organizations, farmers? unions and citizens, in addition to government officials and other stakeholders. * Finally, the drafting of a new national land law that incorporates the findings from earlier land administration work..."
Source/publisher: World Bank
2017-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-10-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.84 MB 3 MB
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Description: မြနမ် ာနိငု ်င၏ံ ရေရှညတ် ညတ် သံ့ ည့ ် မြေယာအပု ခ် ျုပေ် ရးနှင့ ် စီမခံ န့ခ် ွဲမစှု နစ်ဆသီ ိ့?ု . မြေယာကဏ္ဍ၏ လိအု ပခ် ျကမ် ျားအပေါ် စစီ စအ် ကဲဖြတမ် ဆှု ိငု ရ် ာ အကြောင်း အရာအလိကု ် မဝူ ါဒရေးရာမတှ စ် မု ျား နိဒါန်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း မြေယာမူဝါဒနှင့် ထိန်းကွပ်ရေးမူဘောင်ဆိုင်ရာ ဤမူဝါဒ မှတ်စုသည် ကမ္ဘာ့ဘဏ် နှင့် စိုက်ပျိုးရေး၊ မွေးမြူရေးနှင့် ဆည်မြောင်းဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ သယံဇာတနှင့် သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ထိန်းသိမ်းစောင့်ရှောက် ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ ပြည်ထဲရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနလက်အောက်ရှိ အထွေထွေအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးဦးစီးဌာန၊ ရန်ကုန်မြို့တော်စည် ပင်သာယာရေးကော်မတီ စသည့်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအကြား ဆောင်ရွက်သည့် မြေယာကဏ္ဍ၏ လိုအပ်ချက်များ အပေါ် စိစစ်အကဲဖြတ်မှုဆိုင်ရာ နည်းပညာပံ့ပိုးဆောင်ရွက်မှု အစီအစဉ်အရ ရေးဆွဲပြုစုသည့် မူဝါဒရေးရာ မှတ်စုစာတမ်း (၅)စောင်အနက်၊ ပထမစာတမ်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ဤစာတမ်းတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း မြေယာစီမံခန့် ခွဲမှု၊ အုပ်ချုပ်မှုအခြေအနေများနှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ ဗျူဟာမြောက်နည်းလမ်းအစီအစဉ်များ၊ ဆက်လက်ဆောင်ရွက်ရ မည့် အကြံပြုချက်များအပေါ် လေ့လာအကဲဖြတ်နိုင်ရန်နှင့် မြေယာဆိုင်ရာ ဆွေးနွေးညှိနှိုင်းမှုများအတွက် သတင်း အချက်အလကမ် ျား ဖြည့်ဆည်းပေးနိုင်ရန် ရည်ရွယ်ပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် မြေယာကဏ္ဍအတွက် အရေးပါသည့် အောက်ပါအဓိကအစိတ်အပိုင်း (၅)ရပ်ရှိ ဦးစားပေး အစီအစဉ်များနှင့် စပ်လျဉ်း၍ ယေဘူယျသဘောတူညီချက်ရ ရှိရေး မြှင့်တင်ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရန်လည်း ရည်ရွယ်ပါ သည် - (၁) မြေယာမူဝါဒနှင့် ထိန်းကွပ်ရေးမူဘောင်၊ (၂) သစ်တောမြေအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးနှင့် စီမံခန့်ခွဲမှု၊ (၃) မြေယာစီမံ အုပ်ချုပ်မှု၊ (၄) တည်နေရာပါသည့် ပထဝီသတင်းအချက်အလက်ဆိုင်ရာ (Geospatial) အခြေခံအဆောက်အ အုံနှင့် ဝန်ဆောင်မှုများ၊ (၅) မြေ /အဆောက်အအုံ တန်ဖိုးသတ်မှတ်ခြင်းနှင့် အခွန်စည်းကြပ်ကောက်ခံခြင်း။ မှတ်ချက် - မူဝါဒရေးရာမူကြမ်းမှတ်စုစာတမ်းများအပေါ် လေ့လာသုံးသပ်ရန်အတွက် အရေးပါသက်ဆိုင်သူ (stakeholder)များနှင့် အစိုးရအဖွဲ့အစည်းများပါဝင်သော တိုင်ပင်နှီးနှောပွဲ/အလုပ်ရုံဆွေးနွေးပွဲများ ကို ၂၀၁၇ ခုနှစ်၊ အောက်တိုဘာလတွင် ရန်ကုန်နှင့် နေပြည်တော်မြို့များ၌ ကျင်းပဆောင်ရွက်မည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ မူဝါဒရေးရာ မှတ်စုစာတမ်းများ အချောသတ်ရေးဆွဲပြုစုခြင်းကို ၂၀၁၇ နှစ်ကုန်ပိုင်း မတိုင်မီ အပြီးသတ်ဆောင်ရွက်သွား မည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ မူဝါဒရေးရာမှတ်စုစာတမ်းအမှတ် (၁) မြေယာမဝူ ါဒနှင့် ထနိ ်းကွပေ် ရးမေူ ဘာင ် 3 အနှစ်ချုပ်တင်ပြချက် မြေယာနှင်ပ့ တသ် က၍် အကျုးိ ရ ှိ ထေိ ရာကေ် သာမဝူ ါဒနှင့် ဥပဒေထနိ ်းကွပမ် မှု ေူ ဘာငမ် ျား အတွက်ရေးဆွဲဆောင်ရွက်သင်သ့ ည့ ် အဓိက အစတိ ်အပိုင်းများမှာ အောကပ် ါတ့ြိုဖစ်ပါသည်-  အကျိုးရှိထိရောက်သော မြေယာအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးစနစ် တစ်ရပ်ဖေါ်ဆောင်ရာတွင် အောက်ဖော်ပြပါ အ ချက်များကသဲ့ ိ့ေု သာ မြေယာမဝူ ါဒအသစ်များ ဖော် ဆောင်ရန်အတွက် လက်ရှိဥပဒေရေးရာ မူဘောင် ကိပု င်အသုးံ ပြုခြင်းဖြင့် စတငေ် ဆာင်ရွကသ် င့်ပါ သည်- (၁) မိရိုးဖလာအစဉ်အလာသုံး စွဲနေသူများ ၏ မြေယာလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင်မ့ ျားအပေါ် အကာအကွယ် ပေးခြင်း၊ (၂)မွေးမြူရေးနှင့်ရေလုပ ် ငန်းများကဲ့သိ့ ု သော အမျိုးမျိုးသောလယ်ယာစိုက်ပျိုးရေးလုပ် နည်း လုပဟ် န်များကိ ု မြှင့်တင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်း၊ (၃)နွမ်းပါးနိမ့က် ျသည်ေ့ တာင်သူများနှင့် မြေယာမ ဲ့ မိသားစမု ျားအတွက ် မြေယာရရအှိ သုးံ ပြုနိုင်စေ ရေး တိုးတက်ကောင်းမွန်လာစေရန် ရည်ရွယ် သည့် မြေယာခွဲဝေချထားမ ှု ဆိုငရ် ာမူဝါဒများ၊ (၄) နိုင်င၏ံ ဧရိယာအများအပြား (ကျေးလက/် မြို့ပြ/သစ်တော)နှင့် မြေယာလပု ်ကိငု ်ပိုင်ဆိငု ်ခွငဆ့် ိငု ်ရာအားလုးံ (??
Source/publisher: World Bank
2017-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-10-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Size: 1.11 MB
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Description: "Since 2012, land governance in Myanmar has been undergoing major changes. This article aims to capture the changes of the last year, framed through my perception of working as a consultant for a range of local NGOs, INGOs and donors. While this will inevitably be coloured by my own experience, I hope that I can present for wider discussion and reflection some of the key events and issues that I have found interesting over the past year...The Myanmar National Land Use Policy (NLUP) was published in March 2016, after 2 public consultations that took place during 2014 and 2015. This document represents an important step forward in land governance, not only due to its content, but also due to the consultative process through which NGOs and farmers across the country provided input and ideas for an initial draft, which was then used to develop the final version of the policy. This process was unprecedented in law development in Myanmar. Since the new NLD government came to power at the end of March 2016, the status of the NLUP has become somewhat unclear, as authorities have not officially supported the policy?s implementation or the proposed National Land Law (an umbrella law for land under which the NLUP is situated). More recently, the Commission for the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues has put forward a series of proposed amendments to the NLUP which include removing sections on gender equality as well as protections around customary land governance. These are controversial recommendations for changes to articles that many civil society groups felt were key elements of the policy. At present, it is unclear if these amendments will be accepted by Parliament. Other laws and policies released this year include:..."
Creator/author: Catriona Knapman
Source/publisher: teacircleoxford
2017-06-20
Date of entry/update: 2017-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Conclusions: "Widespread land conflicts and pending land governance reform, also in relation to the larger ongoing peace process, form the key reason for opposition to the pending EU-Myanmar IPA. As previously explained, land rights are not well established and populations living or working on land acquired for large-scale investment projects have protested over forced evictions, loss of livelihoods, inadequate consultation and compensation. Land governance reform is expected and wanted, as well as larger governance reform in the context of the peace process, although the breadth and depth of these remain unknown. In addition to the need for protection of land-related human rights, and the need for policy space, Myanmar at present has limited institutional capacity to implement stringent commitments, due to which it may fail to effectively enforce IPA measures. There is limited intra-government information sharing and coordination, which could unintentionally expose the country to expensive litigation risks. Combined with the umbrella clause included in the agreement, this may increase the vulnerability of host states to litigation under investment treaties. Ultimately, a lot of the discussion around investment protection comes down to a political discussion about development trajectories. Like one respondent also noted, ?This IPA will be fine for Myanmar as long as it wants to continue what starts to look more and more as a neoliberal development policy. If they stay within the neoliberal paradigm, there will not be problems. But if one day they want to adopt massive land reform, they will run into trouble.”164 This also explains the position of some of the private stakeholders consulted, who emphasize Myanmar simply needs more investment if it wants to reduce poverty, and that this larger picture may sometimes have to overrule smaller issues. In short, different people have different visions for Myanmar?s future. However, given the NLD Economic Policy vision of the government is supposedly ?peoplecentred, and aims to achieve inclusive and continuous development, and that it aims to establish an economic framework that supports national reconciliation, based on the just balancing of sustainable natural resource mobilization and allocation across the States and Region”165, there may indeed be issues with specific IPA provisions in the future, for which intensified lobby at this stage is warranted..."
Source/publisher: ACT-Alliance
2017-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2017-05-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 919.5 KB
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Description: "This case study presents a country-wide quantitative analysis of a Parliamentary Commission established in 2012 in Myanmar to examine ?land grab? cases considered and to propose solutions towards releasing the land to its original owners, in most cases smallholder farming families. The study analyses the information contained in four reports released to the public, but also aims to elicit information they do not reveal. First of all, the paper suggests the commission has failed to provide detailed information about land grabs by the military. Second, the Commission seems to have targeted urban areas and urbanization projects and has underestimated land grab cases in rural areas. Third, by contrasting the locations of land confiscation cases with those of agro-industrial concessions as of 2011, the paper also shows how the Commission has evaded, rather than tackled, some very critical land confiscation issues driven by these concessions. Eventually, the authors argue for a mechanism that gathers, manages and releases relevant data on land confiscation and redistribution in a manner that allows for full disclosure."
Creator/author: U San Thein Pyae Sone, Jean-Christophe Diepart
Source/publisher: Mekong Region Land Governance
2017-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-03-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: Abstract: "Land is the most vital natural resource in Myanmar it is essential to livelihoods, particularly for the most vulnerable. Seventy percent (70%) of Myanmar?s population rely on land and agriculture for their livelihoods. A long history of various governing structures in Myanmar has enabled the capture and control of land by colonial, government or elite powers to the detriment and neglect of smallholder and subsistence farmers. This has impacted negatively on vulnerable populations, significantly contributing to, and shaping the current occurrence of poverty. Myanmar is currently at a juncture, where poor-centred approaches to development can be fundamental in shaping a future of inclusive prosperity as the government has opened to foreign investment and commenced significant reform change. One of the most important reform changes required to reach this goal is Land Reform. A National Land Use Policy (NLUP) is currently in final stages of drafting, for this policy to facilitate people-centred goals it is imperative that the reform consider the voices of vulnerable communities."
Creator/author: Claire Burgess
Source/publisher: Actionaid Myanmar
2015-08-07
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 919.01 KB
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Description: Table of Contents: PREAMBLE... CHAPTER 1: PRELIMINARY - Article 1.1 Basic Principle of Kawthoolei Land Policy... Article 1.2 Objectives.... Article 1.3 Nature and scope...Definitions... CHAPTER 2: GENERAL POLICY MATTERS - Article 2.1 Basic principles... Article 2.2 Principles of implementation.... Article 2.3 Rights and responsibilities... Article 2.4 Policy, legal and organizational frameworks related to land governance... CHAPTER 3: RECOGNITION AND ALLOCATION OF TENURE RIGHTS AND DUTIES: Article 3.1 Basic principles... Article 3.2 Safeguards... Article 3.3 ?Kaw” Lands... Article 3.4 Informal tenure... Article 3.5 Village Lands... Article 3.6 KNU Authorities-Managed Public Purpose Land... Article 3.7 Regulating use rights... Article 3.8 Contract farming... Article 3.9 Investment... CHAPTER 4: CHANGES TO TENURE RIGHTS AND DUTIES: Article 4.1 Basic principles... Article 4.3 Redistribution... Article 4.4 Rescission... Article 4.5 Readjustment... Article 4.6 Investment... CHAPTER 5: ADMINISTRATION OF TENURE... Article 5.1 Registration... Article 5.2 Valuation... Article 5.3 Taxation... Article 5.4 Regulated spatial planning.... Article 5.5 Resolution of tenure rights and tenure rights related disputes... CHAPTER 6: IMPLEMENTATION... Article 6.1 Training... Article 6.2 Monitoring and evaluation.
Source/publisher: Karen National Union
2015-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 568.19 KB 342.7 KB
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Description: "Conclusion: "Myanmar is at a historic crossroads where rapid land polarisation means that a major rethink is needed of how land and associated resources are regulated and for what purposes. The good news is that there is a lot of thinking about and rethinking of land policy happening both inside and outside the corridors of state; many people are putting serious time and energy into thinking about what should be done, and at least for the time being, the political space exists for previously excluded voices to weigh in and be heard. Both the NLUP and the KNU Land Policy are positive examples of what can be achieved when policy making processes are opened up and public participation and consultation is encouraged. Both policies have shown how it is possible to acknowledge and take steps to address the fundamental concerns and aspirations voiced by real people, especially those who have been most harmed by past policy and law. Both policies, for example, have taken on board the aspirations of many IDPs and refugees who want to return to their places of origin, or at least be given a chance to explore if that possible and if so under what conditions. Both policies have also taken on board the need expressed by many to take steps at the policy level to guarantee respect for the right to land of all, especially the most vulnerable and marginal and including the customary land rights of ethnic nationalities. The KNU policy goes further by recognising the importance of addressing existing land inequality through land redistribution and recognising the possibility of preventing serious land inequality in the future through a land size ceiling. The NLD does not yet have (or has not yet made public) a detailed land policy, but only its election manifesto, which has several weak points with regard to land related issues and was also not part of consultation process. Ironically, the NLUP adopted under the previous government is far closer to the VGGTs than the NLD election manifesto. Those hoping for change in a better direction will likely have to struggle on. The future remains uncertain especially for ethnic nationalities whose right to land and tenure rights are not recognised by current laws, for landless and near-landless rural working people, and for IDPs and refugees who wish to return. Yet there may still be some time and cause for hope that in the future, the new NLD government will unveil a more detailed position (and take actions) on land that take on board these and other good points found in the NLUP and the KNU land policy. After all, solving the land problem is tied to the country?s prospects for peace. In the end, moving forward meaningfully in the peace process and on the land front will require an approach that puts state-led initiatives at the service of community-defined and community-led processes of negotiation and collective decision-making, and opening political space particularly at the ground level for those most affected to debate and negotiate amongst themselves their own visions of the future. This can only be done with real public consultation, where the actual needs and aspirations of those who have been most affected in the past and will be most affected in the future are finally heard and reflected in law and policy."
Creator/author: Jenny Franco
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2016-07-05
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Executive summary: "In January 2016 the government adopted a National Land Use Policy, which included the recognition of customary land management practices. While this is a welcome first step in the necessary integration of Burma?s customary land management systems with the national-level system, there is an urgent need for constitutional reform and devolution of land management powers prior to any such integration. This report by the Ethnic Community Development Forum (ECDF) presents how Burma?s diverse customary land management systems in seven ethnic communities are structured, and provides ideas for how these systems could be supported and potentially integrated into a future devolved federal national land management system. Customary land management systems have co-existed with the national land management system in Burma for centuries. The national land management system is highly centralized and has facilitated widespread land grabbing for natural resource extraction and agribusiness projects, resulting in loss of livelihoods and environmental degradation throughout the country. Updated Land Laws adopted in 2012 were based on poorly defined land classification and despite some democratic reforms, the military maintains a central role in land management through the General Administration Department. Upland agricultural lands ? mainly tilled by ethnic nationalities practicing shifting cultivation ? are defined by law as either forest lands or as vacant, virgin and fallow lands. Lands defined as ?vacant, virgin and fallow” are particularly problematic as these are designated for ?State Economic Development” and contracted to extractive industries, agribusiness and infrastructure development projects. Customary land management systems have operated independently of the national government since colonial days and independence, due to lack of government access into remote ethnic areas and decades of civil war. In recent years, ethnic resistance governments in Karen and Mon States have developed their own land registration and management systems in order to protect the land rights and interests of ethnic farmers in areas governed by these ethnic governments. These systems, in contrast to the national land management systems, are decentralized and have evolved/adapted to local situations and needs, prioritizing sustainable livelihoods and environmental protection. The ECDF has conducted grassroots participatory research and issued publications on customary land systems in Burma?s ethnic states since 2014. This has included: conducting a household survey in 26 townships; commissioning a report on international experiences with customary land management systems; and facilitating participatory community research in order to document the land management systems in seven ethnic villages located in six states. Summary findings of this research include: a) Customary practices have been passed on for many generations and have sustained strong connections between villagers and their lands: Communities that are practicing customary land management have been living on their lands for many generations, passing their lands and traditions onto their children and grandchildren. Community members regard land as more than just a commodity which has no spiritual connection to the nature that has produced these resources. The administrative and cultural institutions that have arisen among ethnic groups over numerous generations of living on their lands are tied closely to the geographic features of their lands, as well as the experiences about how to best conserve surrounding natural resources in order to survive and prosper. Everyday customs and traditions, including the roles of those governing customary lands, are woven into the natural environment where communities are based and the corresponding worldview that community members have received from their ancestors. b) Customary practices provide sustainable environmental protection: Nearly all communities practicing customary land management reside in forests, and therefore are dependent upon the health of these forest lands for their survival and livelihoods. Customary communities have developed land use rules and regulations which have allowed sustainable use of the forest for food, shelter and medicine without endangering long-term ecological health. Villagers also preserve their natural resources by respecting the spirits of the trees, lakes, water resources, animals and lands on ?auspicious? days each year and through composing stories and poems in order to teach the new generations about protecting the community?s natural resources. Customary Land communities have established a number of land use zones (community forests, protected forests, reserved forests, use forests, watersheds, conservation areas and wildlife conservation zones) ? each with explicit rules that regulate the use of the lands and natural resources. There is a wide range of classifi cations for these conservation areas. c) Customary practices provide self-reliant and ecologically sustainable livelihoods: A vast majority of community needs are produced or collected from local lands, forests and waters. Apart from organized production of foods ? through lowland and hillside agriculture as well as livestock breeding ? forest resources provide supplementary foods (wild fruits, vegetables and animals); materials for housing and clothes; and herbal medicines. These communities have regulations that prioritize ecologically sustainable, equitable and needs-based production rather than extraction for sales and profit. d) Customary practices provide local communities with eff ective decentralized and participatory governance and judiciary systems: Governance, judiciary and administrative systems exist in the communities that have evolved over generations and are both participatory and resilient. Community members view the rules and regulations as their own, and therefore adhere to them much more closely than a set of regulations imposed upon them by outsiders. Elected village committees (including specific committees for land, water and forest management) update, arbitrate and enforce village land regulations. Important decisions are made with the participation of a majority of the villagers. Customary land management systems are holistic and incorporate all lands, waterways and forests within specified village boundaries. Customary land management structures and policies have been integrated nationally in countries on every continent. International institutions ? including the World Bank ? have stated the effectiveness and effi ciency advantages of communal and customary tenure over formal individual titles. The World Bank has also urged caution about state-led intervention in land tenure systems, suggesting building on existing systems. Protection and recognition of ethnic customary land management systems is an important component in achieving sustainable peace and must be enshrined in a future federal constitution and decentralized legal framework ? one example of this is outlined at the end of this report. In order to protect these lands and systems until peace accords, constitutional amendments and new land legislation formalizing these systems have been fi nalized, there should be a moratorium on land acquisition in areas where customary land management systems are being implemented or were implemented before displacement due to armed conflicts."
Source/publisher: Ethnic Community Development Forum
2016-07-05
Date of entry/update: 2016-07-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 9.08 MB
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Description: Customary Tenure and Land Alienation in Myanmar: "Customary communal tenure is characteristic of many local upland communities in S.E. Asia. These communities have strong ancestral relationships to their land, which has never been held under individual rights, but considered common property of the village. Communal tenure has been the norm and land has never been a commodity. This is an age-old characteristic of many societies globally. Prior to the publication in 1861 of Ancient Law by the English jurist Henry Sumner Maine, the accepted view among Western jurists in the nineteenth century had been that the origin of the concept of property was the occupation of land by a single proprietor and his family. However, Maine insisted that for India, for example, ?it is more than likely that joint ownership, and not separate ownership, is the really archaic institution, and that the forms of property that will afford us instruction will be those that are associated with the rights of families and of groups of kindred.”1 The international recognition of this had earlier emerged in developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada and it became manifest in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. The Declaration specifies individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, land and natural resources, employment, health, education and other issues. It was voted for in the UN by 144 countries, including Myanmar. In Myanmar customary tenure arrangements date back centuries. They are linked to the characteristics of the landscape and its resources, to the kinship systems, to population density and to the actual history of the area and settlement. In general the ethnic upland villagers? identity is clearly linked to the land constituting a dense network of particular places, each having different cultural and material value and containing a mosaic of resources. There is an inner connection between history, identity and land..."
Creator/author: Kirsten Ewers Andersen (Member of the Land Core Group, Myanmar)
Source/publisher: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges. 24-26th July 2015. Center for ASEAN Studies (CAS), Chiang Mai University, the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD)
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 687.01 KB
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Description: "A decision by Myanmar?s new government to ramp up efforts to tackle land grabbing is a positive step, but must address the role of the military in perpetuating the country?s land crisis, which is at the heart of one of the longest ongoing civil wars in modern history..."
Source/publisher: Global Witness
2016-05-11
Date of entry/update: 2016-05-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "... Food Security Policy Project Components: • Value chains and livelihoods research • Mon State rural livelihoods and economy survey • Fish value chain • Other product and input value chains assessments • Policy Advising (e.g. Mon State Rural Development Strategy) • Training and Outreach..."
Creator/author: Ben Belton, Aung Hein, Kyan Htoo, Seng Kham, Paul Dorosh, Emily Schmidt
Source/publisher: Myanmar Development Resource Institute (MDRI)
2015-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 3.55 MB
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Description: "... Karenni people celebrated three kinds of pole festivals in a year. The first one is called Tya-Ee-Lu-Boe-Plya. During this festival, the people went to their paddy fields, vegetable farms, picked the premature fruits and brought it to the Ee-Lu-pole. They put the premature fruits on altar, thank god and then pray for good fruits and good harvest. The second one called Tya-Ee-Lu-Phu-Seh. In this festival they pray god to bless the teenagers with good conducts, and good healths. The third one is Tya-Ee-Lu-Du. The festival concerned to everyone. Everyone can pray the god for himself and his family. Outwardly, it appeared to other people that they are worshiping spirits because they are feeding spirits. Karenni people believe that the god had sent the various kinds of sprits in to the world to harm the human beings. In the festival, they only feed the spirits and ask its not to herm them. The essence of the festival is to remember the gratitude of the goddess of creation, and to thank the eternal god who is controlling thiws world and then to pray the god for good future..."
Source/publisher: Khai Htoe Boe Association, Ee-Lu-Phu Committee
2002-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 4.96 MB 22.85 MB
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Description: "... Without local support, the long-term existence of PAs is not assured (Wells and McShane 2004). Local people are unlikely to support PAs if they have negative perceptions and attitudes toward them (Alkan et al. 2009). An attitude is a cognitive evaluation of a particular entity with favor or disfavor, and it reflects the beliefs that people hold about the attitude object or entity (Eagly and Chaiken 1998). Beliefs are the associations that people establish between the attitude object and various attributes (Allendorf 2007). Attitudes toward PAs, conservation, or wildlife may be influenced by PA staff or management interventions, local economic needs and history, or other indirectly related socioeconomic factors such as government policy. The cognitions or thoughts that are associated with attitudes are typically termed beliefs by attitude theorists (Eagly and Chaiken 1998). Perception refers to people?s beliefs that derive from their experiences and interaction with a program or activity. Xu et al. (2006) argue that local people?s perceptions are related to costs and benefits produced by PAs, their dependence on PA resources, and their knowledge about PAs. The influences of socioeconomic characteristics on local people?s perceptions and attitudes toward an adjacent PA are often site-specific and inconsistent (Allendorf et al. 2006; Baral and Heinen 2007; Mehta and Heinen 2001; Rao et al. 2003; Shibia 2010; Shrestha and Alavalapati 2006; Xu et al. 2006). Some studies report that education is a strong predictor of attitude (Allendorf et al. 2006; Mehta and Heinen 2001; Shibia 2010; Shrestha and Alavalapati 2006; Xu et al. 2006), while others have found no correlation between educational status and people?s perceptions and attitudes (Baral and Heinen 2007; Mehta and Heinen 2001). Mehta and Heinen (2001), Allendorf et al. (2006), and Xu et al. (2006) reported that women were less likely to hold positive attitudes, whereas Baral and Heinen (2007) and Shibia (2010) found no correlation between gender and attitude. Allendorf et al. (2006) and Shrestha and Alavalapati (2006) found that individuals from larger families have negative attitudes to PAs, whereas Xu et al. (2006) reported that individuals from larger families hold positive attitudes toward PAs. Jim and Xu (2002) and Alkan et al. (2009) argue that local people?s perceptions and attitudes are shaped by their knowledge about the neighboring PA. This knowledge might include objectives, activities, size, regulations, or location of the boundary of PAs (Jim and Xu 2002; Rao et al. 2003; Xu et al. 2006). The knowledge is gained empirically through one?s perceptions, and it is the recognition of something sensed or felt (Ziadat 2010). It is important to investigate whether more knowledge of PAs would be associated with positive perceptions and attitudes toward them. We examined the effects of both knowledge and socioeconomic factors on the perceptions and attitudes of local people toward Popa Mountain Park, in central Myanmar, and its management through a questionnaire survey. Myanmar is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world, and its PAs play a crucial role in conserving the country?s rich biodiversity (Myers et al. 2000). During the last 10 years the number of protected areas in Myanmar has increased from 20 to 42, covering 7.3% of total land area of the country (Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division 2008). The Nature and Wildlife Conservation Division (NWCD) of the Forest Department, Ministry of Forestry, is mainly responsible for PA management in Myanmar. Generally, PAs in Myanmar can be categorized into national park, marine park, wildlife sanctuary, nature reserve, and zoo park. Although Myanmar?s PAs do not fully conform to PA categories of the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are most similar to IUCN category IV (Aung 2007). Myanmar?s PA management rules and regulations prohibit local people from using resources within PAs. Conflicts arise as local people often have no other source of resource than the PA. Rao, Rabinowitz, and Khaing (2002) reported that nontimber forest products were extracted from 85% and fuelwood was collected from more than 50% of PAs in Myanmar. The mean annual population growth rate is 2.1% (Central Statistics Organisation 2006) and is highest in rural areas where most Myanmar PAs are located. Population increase is linked to an increase in the number of people seeking land for grazing, collecting fuelwood, and extracting timber and other forest products. The rapid growth of PAs and the huge pressures placed on them by the increasing human population are a great challenge for sustainable PA management. Popa Mountain Park (PMP) possesses a diverse forest ecosystem in central Myanmar where most forests have already disappeared. PMP was selected for the present study for two reasons: (1) a historic relationship between PMP and local communities and (2) high people?s pressure on the park resulting from the high population density together with resource scarcity in the surrounding area. The Forest Department has had great success in the reforestation of Popa Mountain, which is a high priority for forest conservation. It is important to understand local people?s perceptions and attitudes toward PMP for its sustainability. The objectives of the present study were (1) to examine the responses of local people toward the park and its management and (2) to study how local people?s perceptions and attitudes toward the PA and its management relate to their socioeconomic status and knowledge about the park..."
Creator/author: Naing Zaw Htun, Nobuya Mizoue, Shigejiro Yoshida
Source/publisher: Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF)
2015-10-13
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 351.69 KB
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Description: "... Protected areas (PAs) are important tools for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. PAs safeguard ecosystems and their services, such as water provision, food production, carbon sequestration and climate regulation, thus improving people?s livelihoods. They preserve the integrity of spiritual and cultural values placed by indigenous people on wild areas and offer opportunities of inspiration, study and recreation. Due to a long period of isolation, Myanmar has conserved an extraordinary natural and cultural heritage that is in part represented in its protected area system. The expansion of agriculture and industry, pollution, population growth, along with uncontrolled use and extraction of resources, are causing severe environmental and ecosystem degradation. Loss of biodiversity is the most pressing environmental problem because species extinction is irreversible. Realising the urgency of Myanmar environmental challenges, several stakeholders, at national, international and regional level, have committed to support conservation and management of PAs. However, baseline information on natural resources, threats, management, staff, infrastructure, land use, tourism and research in Myanmar PAs was hardly ever updated and not systematically organised, thus limiting the subsequent planning and management of resources. Therefore, the aim of this publication is twofold: to raise awareness on the condition of the conservation of PAs and to mobilise national and international support for cost-effective initiatives, innovative approaches and targeted research in priority sites. The document provides background information on Myanmar natural features, environmental, government and non-government frameworks (Chapter 1). The core section makes available the information retrieved in the period 2009-2010 on the status of Myanmar PAs (Chapter 2) and the results of the research conducted in Lampi Island Marine National Park (Chapter 3) and Rakhine Yoma Elephant Range Wildlife Reserve (Chapter 4). Data collection, analysis and organisation were part of the larger Myanmar Environmental Project (MEP) managed by Istituto Oikos in partnership with BANCA. Conclusion and recommendations for the management of Myanmar PAs (Chapter 5) were jointly formulated by stakeholders during the MEP closing workshop held on March 17th 2011 in Yangon. The information presented in this publication is also organised in a database available to stakeholders that will be updated with new data provided by PA managers, academic institutions, environmental organisations and community-based groups working in Myanmar PAs to fill the existing gaps..."
Creator/author: Lara Beffasti, Valeria Galanti, Tint Tun
Source/publisher: Istituto Oikos, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA)
2011-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 6.1 MB
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Description: ဤနိုးဆော်မှုများသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ ရေရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲသော ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေး ကဏ္ဍများတွင်ပါဝင်မည့် အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ တသီးပုဂ္ဂလများအတွက် အချက်အလက်ရင်းမြစ်များပင် ဖြစ်သည်။ ဤအချက်အလက် ရင်းမြစ်များသည် ရေရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲသောဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးအယူအဆ၊ မြန်မာ အစိုးရ၏ တာဝန်ဝတ္တရားများနှင့် ဆောင်ရွက်ရန်ရှိသည့်အချက်အလက်များကိုဖော်ပြသည်။ ရေရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲသောဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးသည် နိုင်ငံ၏သဘာဝသယံဇာတအရင်းအမြစ်နှင့် ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ကို ထိခိုက်ပျက်စီးစေမှု မရှိဘဲ လူသားတို့၏လိုအပ်ချက်၊ အထူးသဖြင့် အမှန်တကယ်အကာအကွယ့်မဲ့ဒုက္ခရောက်လျက်ရှိသော လူမှုအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၏ လိုအပ်ချက်ကို တိုက်ရိုက်အကျိုးသက်ရောက်စေမည့် ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေး ဖြစ်သည်။ ရေရှည်တည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲသော ဖွံ့ဖြိုးရေးသည် သဘာဝကမ္ဘာမြေကြီး နှင့် လူနေထိုင်မှုဘဝတို့ကို ကဏ္ဍပေါင်းစုံဖြင့် ဆက်စပ်လျက်ရှိသည်။ ကဏ္ဍပေါင်းစုံဟုဆိုရာတွင် ဇီဝမျိုးကွဲများ (သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်အတွင်း ကွဲပြားမှုအမျိုးမျိုး)၊ မြေယာ (သတ္တုတွင်းတူးဖော်ခြင်း အပါအဝင်)၊ သစ်တောများ၊ စိုက်ပျိုးရေး၊ ရေ၊ စွမ်းအင်နှင့် စီးပွားရေးတို့ဖြစ်သည်။...
Source/publisher: Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG)
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 5.57 MB
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Description: "... This is a resource for organisations and individuals advocating about sustainable development issues in Burma. This resource provides information about the concept of sustainable development and about the government of Burma?s commitments and responsibilities when it comes to sustainable development. Sustainable development is development that does not damage the environment or the country?s natural resources, and that meets people?s needs, including the needs of the most vulnerable communities. Sustainable development relates to many aspects of the natural world and of people?s lives. These aspects include: biodiversity (variety in the natural environment), land (including mining), forests, agriculture, water, energy, and the economy..."
Source/publisher: Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG)
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.71 MB
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Description: Ndai gaw uhpung uhpawng ni hte tinghkrai hku nna myen mung Kata n amazing bawng ring lam a matu sut nhprang laika rai nga ai. Ndai sut nhprang laika gaw, matut manoi kyem mazing bawng ring masa a shiga hte dai mazing bawng ring lam galaw sa wa yang myen mungdan a ap nawng ai hte lit la ai shiga hpe jaw nga ai. Madi shadaw kyem mazing bawng ring masa gaw makau grup yin hpe n jahten shaza ai (sh) mungdan a shingra nhprang sut rai hpe n jahten ai bawngring lam rai nna grau jahten shaza hkrum ai shinggyim uhpawng ni mada? shawa masha ni hta ra ai lam ni hpe jahkum shatsup ya nga ai. Kawn” mazing bawng ring lam gaw shingra mungkan hte shinggyim masha ni a asak hkrung lam hta na nsam maka law law hte matut mahkai nga ai. Ndai nsam maka kumla ni hta lawm ai gaw sakhkrung hpan hkum (grup yin nga ai arai amyu baw hkum sumhpa), lamu ga (ja maw, sut nhprang maw ni lawm ai), nam maling hkai sun, hka tsam n-gun hte sut masa ni rai nga ma ai.
Source/publisher: Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG)
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Kachin
Format : pdf
Size: 869.11 KB
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Description: "... This is a resource for organisations and individuals advocating about sustainable development issues in Burma. This resource provides information about the concept of sustainable development and about the government of Burma?s commitments and responsibilities when it comes to sustainable development. Sustainable development is development that does not damage the environment or the country?s natural resources, and that meets people?s needs, including the needs of the most vulnerable communities. Sustainable development relates to many aspects of the natural world and of people?s lives. These aspects include: biodiversity (variety in the natural environment), land (including mining), forests, agriculture, water, energy, and the economy..."
Source/publisher: Burma Environmental Working Group (BEWG)
2012-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Shan
Format : pdf
Size: 1.28 MB
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Description: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS:- (1) TO MYANMAR LAWYERS: "a. Lawyers need to form strong networks and associations to support farmers, ethnic groups and community organizations... b. Lawyers need to develop new skills to participate in policy advocacy, including collecting data about current practices, and engage in a national debate about land rights... c. Lawyers working on land rights cases need to use all available tools to strengthen their case work (see annex 2 for a list of practical actions lawyers can take)..... (2) TO CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS: a. CSO?s need to work with lawyers to understand the law regarding land ownership and use, how it is being applied and how it can be used to protect land rights and should share this knowledge with communities... b. CSOs should be involved in collecting evidence of the current relationships between communities and land; this will be essential for developing good policies and new laws..... (3) TO INTERNATIONAL DONORS: a. Donors must look beyond the letter of the law and information produced by the government to explore how laws are currently being applied and how the legal system operates in practice. Many challenges faced by lawyers working on land rights cases would not require legal reform to correct; international donors should demand immediate changes to remove some of the existing barriers to justice... b. International donors must translate information relating to land rights into Burmese as a minimum. Understanding of these issues and ongoing reform processes within Myanmar is currently very limited, with residents of Yangon and other cities able to access information far easier than people in rural areas; efforts need to be made to address geographic and ethnic differences in understanding."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Lawyers Network; Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
2015-07-16
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf pdf doc
Size: 315.61 KB 960.27 KB 823.85 KB 727.5 KB
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Description: This document highlights, in English and Burmese, some key chapters of the National Land Use Policy: Objectives...Grants and Leases of Land at the Disposal of Government...Procedures related to Land Acquisition, Relocation, Compensation, Rehabilitation and Restitution...Land Use Rights of the Ethnic Nationalities...Equal Rights of Men and Women...Harmonization of Laws and Enacting New Law...Monitoring and Evaluation...Research and Development.
Source/publisher: Land Core Group
2016-03-06
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 315.34 KB
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Description: Documents and analyses on land tenure in Burma/Myanmar..... "1.Reconcile legality and legitimacy through clear legal recognition of existing acknowledged rights, whatever their origin (customary or statutory) or nature (individual or collective, temporary or permanent). 2.Initiate widespread debate on the choice of society that the land policies will serve (and target), the opportunities for formalisation, how it will be implemented and its possible alternatives. 3.Build consensus between all the actors concerned (central and local governments, local people, the land administration, professionals in the sector), and sustain the political will needed to implement formalisation procedures. 4.Define a realistic implementation strategy which recognises the vital importance of establishing effective and transparent governance and/or administration of land rights. 5.Progressive implementation that leaves room for learning, experimentation and adjustment. 6.Ensure from the outset that the land services will be financially viable, and put in place mechanisms to fund them."
Creator/author: Celine Allaverdian
Source/publisher: GRET (Groupe de Recherche et d?Echanges Technologiques)
2016-02-11
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 541.79 KB 1.11 MB
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Description: "Namati submits this briefing paper to assist the government of Myanmar and other interested parties in efforts to ensure the implementation of the 2013 recommendations of Parliament?s Farmland Investigation Commission. The commission is tasked with scrutinizing land grab cases and to promote justice for Myanmar?s citizens whose land was taken without due process or compensation. According to the Secretary General of the Farmland Investigation Commission, as of June 2015, approximately 30,000 cases have been submitted to the Commission, of which about 20,000 have been heard. Of those, a small number of cases (882 or 4%) have been found justified to receive compensation. Many of these are collective cases, and according to the 2015 report, the Commission has returned about 335,000 acres of urban and farmland to benefit 33,608 families. Namati?s own experience suggests that the number of cases justified to receive compensation or return of land should be much higher. We further recommend actions the government can take to help streamline the return and compensation of grabbed land and improve the likelihood that outcomes are fair and equitable. This briefing draws on Namati?s experience using a network of community paralegals trained to use administrative procedures to resolve land grab cases in Ayeyarwaddy, Southern Shan, Sagaing, Magwe, and Bago between 2013 and 2015..."
Source/publisher: Namati
2015-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.99 MB 430.17 KB
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Description: "The new National Land Use Policy is a positive step, but its principles need to be enshrined in law to protect the vulnerable from land grabs and forced evictions... Disputes over land ownership and use are a major source of social and economic tension in Myanmar as it grapples with political transition and economic development. Irresponsible investment against the interests and wishes of communities which results in the widespread violation of land-related human rights has been allowed for too long. The new National Land Use Policy (NLUP), released in the final days of the outgoing parliament in late January, is a welcome step towards improving the governance of land tenure. The NLUP could not come sooner. An influx of investment has increased demand for land. Poor regulation and lax implementation mean that investors continue to be granted land obtained illegally or under dubious circumstances. Many communities have suddenly found themselves trespassing on land on which they have lived for generations. They are routinely charged with trespassing while their environment and livelihoods are degraded. Experience from around the world has shown than human rights principles should frame land law advocacy. In a positive step, the NLUP uses rights-based language in its basic principles. It refers directly to human rights standards in chapters related to land acquisition, the land use rights of ethnic minorities and is framed with explicit reference to the equality of men and women. On its own, though, the policy is not enough. Myanmar?s land laws do not adequately protect these rights. Laws enacted in 2012, such as the Foreign Investment Law, the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Law and the Farmland Law, were designed to increase investment, encourage large-scale land use and promote agricultural income. Under this system fewer than half the population have land title. The rest are vulnerable to land grabs and forced evictions, which result in further human rights abuses as people are dispossessed of their means of livelihood and habitat..."
Creator/author: Daniel Aguirre
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar"
2016-02-19
Date of entry/update: 2016-02-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ၁။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် တိုင်းရင်းသားလူမျိုးပေါင်းစုံတို့ စုပေါင်းနေထိုင်လျှက်ရှိသော နိုင်ငံတစ်နိုင်ငံဖြစ်ပြီး၊ တိုင်းဒေသကြီး ၇ ခု၊ ပြည်နယ် ၇ ခုနှင့် ပြည်ထောင်စုနယ်မြေတို့တွင် ပြန့်နှံ့နေထိုင်လျက်ရှိသည်။ နိုင်ငံတော်သည် အရှေ့တောင်အာရှတွင် တည်ရှိပြီး ပထဝီအနေအထားအရသော်လည်းကောင်း၊ စီးပွားရေးအရသော်လည်းကောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံရေးအရသော်လည်းကောင်း အချက်အချာကျသည့်နိုင်ငံဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၂။ ထို့ပြင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် အဖိုးတန်သစ်တောကြီးများ၊ မြေဆီသြဇာကြွယ်ဝသည့် မြေပြန့်လွင်ပြင်များ၊ သဘာဝဓာတ်ငွေ့နှင့်သတ္တုသိုက်များ၊ ရှည်လျားသည့်ပင်လည်ကမ်းရိုးတန်း၊ တောင်စဉ်တောင်တန်းများနှင့် နိုင်ငံ၏အသက်သွေးကြောဖြစ်သည့် ဧရာဝတီ၊ ချင်းတွင်း၊ သံလွင်၊ စစ်တောင်းစသည့် မြစ်ကြီးများအပါအဝင် သဘာဝအရင်းအမြစ်အခြေခံကောင်းများနှင့် သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ကောင်းများရှီသည့် နိုင်ငံတစ်နိုင်ငံလည်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၃။ မြေသယံဇာတများသည် နိုင်ငံသားများ၏ စားဝတ်နေရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံတော်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေးတို့အတွက် ရေရှည်ရည်မှန်းချက်ချမှတ်ပြီး အထူးအလေးထား စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်အသုံးချရမည့် အရင်းအမြစ်များဖြစ်ပါသည်။ မြေအရင်းအမြစ်များကို စနစ်တကျအသုံးချစီမံခန့်ခွဲနိုင်သည်နှင့်အမျှ ပြည်သူတို့၏ အခြေခံလိုအပ်ချက်များပြည့်ဝလာစေရန်၊ လူမှုစီးပွား ဘဝမြင့်မားလာစေရန်နှင့် နိုင်ငံတော်ဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်လာစေရန် ဟန်ချက်ညီစွာအကောင်အထည်ဖော်ဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်မည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၄။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေ ပုဒ်မ၃၇တွင် နိုင်ငံတော်သည် နိုင်ငံတော်အတွင်းရှိ မြေအားလုံး၏ပင်ရင်းပိုင်ရှင်ဖြစ်သည်ဟုလည်းကောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံပိုင်သယံဇာတပစ္စည်းများအား စီးပွားရေးအင်အားစုများက ထုတ်ယူသုံးစွဲခြင်းကို ကွပ်ကဲကြီးကြပ်နိုင်ရန် ဥပဒေပြဌာန်းရမည်ဟုလည်းကောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံသားများအား ပစ္စည်းပိုင်ဆိုင်ခွင့်၊ အမွေဆက်ခံခွင့်၊ ကိုယ်ပိုင်လုပ်ကိုင်ခွင့်၊ တီထွင်ခွင့်နှင့်မူပိုင်ခွင့်တို့ကို ဥပဒေပြဌာန်းချက်နှင့်အညီ ခွင့်ပြုရမည်ဟုလည်းကောင်း ပြဌာန်းထားပါသည်။ အဆိုပါပြဌာန်းချက်အရ နိုင်ငံတော်သမ္မတက ၂၀၁၂ခုနှစ်၊ ဇွန်လ ၁၉ ရက်နေ့တွင် နိုင်ငံတော်၏ မြေသယံဇာတများကို စဉ်ဆက်မပြတ်စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်၊ အသုံးချနိုင်ရေးအတွက် လိုအပ်နေသောခိုင်မတိကျသည့် မူဝါဒတစ်ရပ်ရေးဆွဲ ပြဌာန်းနိုင်ရန် လမ်းညွှန်ခဲ့သဖြင့် "အမျိုးသားမြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒ" ကို ရေးဆွဲပြုစုခြင်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ၅။ ဤအမျိုးသားမြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒသည် မြို့ပြ၊ ကျေးလက်များအပါအဝင် နိုင်ငံတော်အတွင်းရှိ မြေအသုံးချမှုနှင့် လုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်များကို မူဝါဒပါ ရည်ရွယ်ချက်များနှင့်အညီ စနစ်တကျအောင်မြင်စွာအကောင်အထည်ဖော် စီမံဆောင်ရွက်နိုင်ရန်ဦးတည်ပြီး မြေနှင့်သက်ဆိုင်သောတည်ဆဲဥပဒေများ၏ ညီညွတ်မျှတမှု၊ ယင်းဥပဒေများကိုအကောင်အထည်ဖော်မှုအပါအဝင် အမျိုးသားမြေဥပဒေသစ်တစ်ရပ် ပြဌာန်းနိုင်ရေးအတွက်လည်းကောင်း၊ မြေအသုံးချမှု သို့မဟုတ် မြေလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်တို့နှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ သက်ဆိုင်ရာဌာန၊ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများအားလုံးက အဆုံးအဖြတ်ပေးရမည့် ကိစ္စရပ်များအတွက်လည်းကောင်း လမ်းညွှန်ဖြစ်စေရမည်။
Source/publisher: Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF)
2016-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: Introduction: "1. Myanmar is a country where the various kinds of ethnic nationalities are residing collectively and widely in 7 Regions, 7 States and Union Territory. The country is located in Southeast Asia and is important geographically, economically and politically in the region. 2. Moreover, Myanmar is a country that has rich natural resources and environment, including valuable forests, fertile planes, natural gas and mineral deposits, long coastline, mountain ranges, and rivers such as the Ayeyarwaddy, Chindwin, Thanlwin, Sittaung, which are the lifeblood of the country. 3. The land resources shall be managed, administered and used, with special attention, by adopting long-term objectives for the livelihood improvement of the citizens and sustainable development of the country. When the land resources are systematically used and well managed, the more it will be possible to fulfill the basic needs of the citizens, develop the social and economic life of the people, and develop the country harmoniously. 4. Under section 37 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, it is provided that the Union is the ultimate owner of all lands in the Union, shall enact necessary law to supervise extraction and utilization of State-owned natural resources by economic forces; shall permit citizens right of private property, right of inheritance, right of private initiative and patent in accord with the law. According to such provision, the President of the Union also guided on 19th June, 2012 to adopt a necessary, strong and precise policy for the sustainable management, administration2 and use of the land resources of the country, as such, "the National Land Use Policy "has been developed. 5. This National Land Use Policy aims to implement, manage and carry out land use and tenure rights in the country systematically and successfully, including both urban and rural areas, in accordance with the objectives of the Policy and shall be the guide for the development and enactment of a National Land Law, including harmonization and implementation of the existing laws related to land, and issues to be decided by all relevant departments and organizations relating to land use and tenure rights."
Source/publisher: Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF)
2016-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-01-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 260.35 KB
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Description: "Land governance is an inherently political-economic issue. This report on Myanmar1 is one of a series of country reports on Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV) that seek to present country-level analyses of the political economy of land governance. The country level analysis addresses land governance in Myanmar in two ways. First, it summarises what the existing body of knowledge tells us about power and configurations that shape access to and exclusion from land, particularly among smallholders, the rural poor, ethnic minorities and women. Second, it draws upon existing literature and expert assessment to provide a preliminary analysis of the openings for and obstacles to land governance reform afforded by the political economic structures and dynamics of each country. The premise of this analysis is that existing configurations of social, political, administrative and economic power lead to unequal distribution of land and related resources. They also produce outcomes that are socially exclusionary, environmentally unsustainable and economically inefficient. Power imbalances at various levels of society result in growing insecurity of land tenure, loss of access to resources by smallholders, increasing food and livelihood insecurity, and human rights abuses. The first part of this analysis explains why, how and with what results for different groups these exclusionary arrangements and outcomes are occurring. In recognition of the problems associated with existing land governance arrangements, a number of reform initiatives are underway in the Mekong Region. Most of these initiatives seek to enhance security of access to land by disadvantaged groups. All the initiatives work within existing structures of power, and the second part of the analysis discusses the potential opportunities and constraints afforded by the existing arrangements. This country report commences with a brief identification of the political-economic context that sets the parameters for existing land governance and for reform in Myanmar. It then explores the politicaleconomic dynamics of land relations and identifies key transitions in land relations that affect access to land and tenure security for smallholders. Finally, the report discusses key openings for, and constraints to, land governance reform. Myanmar is marked by a rapid opening of its economy to foreign investment. This has exacerbated insecurity over land in a country where arbitrary use of authority has troubled smallholders for decades. Close association between the military (which still controls the levers of government), domestic big business and foreign corporate interests produces a powerful force for land alienation in a country where the current accelerated development path is largely based on land-demanding projects. These projects include agribusiness plantations, extractives projects in the energy and mining sector, and special economic zones (SEZs). The space for open dialogue and challenges around these issues has opened up rapidly, leaving civil society, government officials and the international community scrambling to stay abreast. Meanwhile, new and complex issues have emerged on top of old problems as neoliberal approaches to turn land into capital see tenure reforms move in the direction of private land titling for smallholder sedentary lowland farmers. In addition, new land and investment-related laws enable foreign capital into land-based deals, particularly for agribusiness."
Creator/author: Natalia Scurrah, Philip Hirsch, Kevin Woods
Source/publisher: Mekong Region Land Governence (MRLG)
2015-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 205.47 KB
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Description: "This assessment is in response to the 6th draft of the NLUP, released in May 2015, following months of public and expert consultations. It outlines some of the key positive and negative points of the new draft. The new draft NLUP has taken on board many of the concerns and recommendations raised by the public during the consultation process, and includes several key issues that would greatly improve Myanmar?s land governance arrangements. However, some serious concerns remain. As in our past responses to the earlier (5th) draft of the NLUP, we take as our starting point how the draft fulfills principles and provisions negotiated and agreed upon by the world?s governments ? including the Government of Myanmar ? and captured guidelines of the UN Committee on World Food Security (UN CFS) known as the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (hereafter referred to as the ?TGs”). In addition, the assessment that follows is based on the English version of NLUP-6..."
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2015-09-16
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 300.46 KB
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Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Myanmar?s agricultural sector has for long suffered due to multiplicity of laws and regulations, deficient and degraded infrastructure, poor policies and planning, a chronic lack of credit, and an absence of tenure security for cultivators. These woes negate Myanmar?s bountiful natural endowments and immense agricultural potential, pushing its rural populace towards dire poverty. This review hopes to contribute to the ongoing debate on land issues in Myanmar. It focuses on land tenure issues vis-à-vis rural development and farming communities since reforms in this sector could have a significant impact on farmer innovation and investment in agriculture and livelihood sustainability. Its premise is that land and property rights cannot be understood solely as an administrative or procedural issue, but should be considered part of broader historical, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Discussions were conducted with various stakeholders; the government?s inter-ministerial committee mandated to develop the National Action Plan for Agriculture (NAPA) served as the national counterpart. Existing literature was also reviewed. Limitations of the review included: • maintaining inclusiveness without losing focus of critical aspects such as food security; • the lack of a detailed discussion on the administration and management of forest land which is outside its purview; and an evolving regulatory environment with work currently underway on the new draft of the National Land-Use Policy (NLUP) and Land-Use Certificates (LUCs) for farmlands (Phase One work)..."
Creator/author: Shivakumar Srinivas, U Saw Hlaing
Source/publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
2015-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.15 MB 7.49 MB
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Description: "Customary communal tenure is characteristic of many local shifting cultivation upland communities in S.E. Asia. These communities have strong ancestral relationships to their land, which has never been held under individual rights, but considered common property of the village. Communal tenure has been the norm and land has never been a commodity..."
Creator/author: Kirsten Ewers Andersen
Source/publisher: Chiangmai University Conference: "Burma/Myanmar in Transition"
2015-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pptx
Size: 1.06 MB
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Description: [N.B. Only the 1st 2 and the last document were accessible, 30 July 2015] ..... National Land Use Policy 6th Draft (English Version) English Version(6th draft).pdf... ဆဌမအကွိမျ မွအေသုံးခမြှု မူဝါဒမူကွမျး (မွနျမာ) myanmar version (6th draft).pdf... ESIA (English) PartI... ESIA (Englsih)PartI.pdf... ESIA Letpadaung-Summary-Myanmar font... ESIA Letpadaung-Summary-Myanmar font.pdf... ESIA OF LETPADAUNG PROJECT ON NOV 21ST BY KNIGHT PIESOLD 2883 PAGES... ESIA OF LETPADAUNG PROJECT ON NOV 21ST BY KNIGHT PIESOLD 2883 PAGES.pdf... Lapadaung_ESIA_Scoping Study Report(English)... Lapadaung_ESIA_Scoping Study Report(English).pdf... Lapadaung_ESIA_Scoping Study Report(Myanmar)... Lapadaung_ESIA_Scoping Study Report(Myanmar).pdf... Executive_Summary_of_final_ESIA_report _English_Version... Executive_Summary_of_final_ESIA_report _English_Version.pdf... Executive Summary of final ESIA report_Myanmar_Version... Executive Summary of final ESIA report _Myanmar 3 font 13_.pdf... ESIA OF LETPADAUNG PROJECT ON NOV 21ST BY KNIGHT PIESOLD... ESIA OF LETPADAUNG PROJECT ON NOV 21ST BY KNIGHT PIESOLD 2883 PAGES.pdf...
Source/publisher: Forest Department, Nay Pyi Taw
2015-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 278.78 KB
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Description: Opinion and analysis on business and human rights issues in Myanmar...For the last two days I have been at the Workshop on the National Land Use Policy Formulation held at the Myanmar International Convention Centre in Nay Pyi Taw. Under discussion was the 6th, and likely final, draft of the National Land Use Policy. (Available here: http://www.fdmoecaf.gov.mm/documents) While the government should be commended for holding open consultation and taking on board many of the comments from civil society, the consultation?s location in Nay Pyi Taw is prohibitive to most civil society organizations (CSOs). In fact, if it was not for the diligent organization of buses and accommodation by Land Core Group, headed by U Shwe Thein and facilitated by Glen Hunt, the consultation would have been more like a intergovernmental discussion. The opening morning consisted of speeches by U Kyaw Kyaw Lwin, the Deputy Director General (Policy/Planning) of the Forest Department and U Aye Maung Sein a National Consultant, who reminded us of the draft?s content and outlined the process of consultation undertaken so far. Vice President U Nyan Htun, Chairman of National Land Resource Management Central Committee, also delivered a speech in which he explained how the government had ?laid down a bottom up process for all sectors.? But the really interesting discussion came during the small working groups. The participants signed up for the following 5 different working groups:...It certainly a step forward for Myanmar when the government engages in a long consultation process and amends numerous drafts to reflect many of civil society?s concerns. If nothing else, the NLUP will serve as an important guideline for Civil Society to use in its advocacy in Myanmar. It remains to be seen how the final draft will look and how its provisions will frame the drafting of much needed, consolidated land law. One thing is certain, the irony of holding a land policy consultation in Nay Pyi Taw ? itself not exactly a model of participatory, sustainable land use ? was not lost on the participants."
Creator/author: Daniel Aguirre
Source/publisher: Business & Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar
2015-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Objectives... Basic Principles... Land Use Administration... Formation of the National Land Use Council... Determination of Land Types and Land Classifications... Land Information Management... Planning and Changing Land Use... Planning and Drawing Land Use Map... Zoning and Changing Land Use... Changing Land Use by Individual Application... Grants and Leases of Land at the Disposal of Government Procedures related to Land Acquisition, Relocation, Compensation... Part-VI Land Dispute Resolution and Appeal... Land Disputes Resolution... Appeal... Assessment and Collection of Land Tax, Land Transfer Fee and Stamp Duties... Land Use Rights of the Ethnic Nationalities... Equal Rights of Men and Women... Harmonization of Laws and Enacting New Law... Monitoring and Evaluation... Research and Development...Miscellaneous .
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
2015-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 488.79 KB
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Description: Objectives... Basic Principles... Land Use Administration... Formation of the National Land Use Council... Determination of Land Types and Land Classifications... Land Information Management... Planning and Changing Land Use... Planning and Drawing Land Use Map... Zoning and Changing Land Use... Changing Land Use by Individual Application... Grants and Leases of Land at the Disposal of Government Procedures related to Land Acquisition, Relocation, Compensation... Part-VI Land Dispute Resolution and Appeal... Land Disputes Resolution... Appeal... Assessment and Collection of Land Tax, Land Transfer Fee and Stamp Duties... Land Use Rights of the Ethnic Nationalities... Equal Rights of Men and Women... Harmonization of Laws and Enacting New Law... Monitoring and Evaluation... Research and Development... Miscellaneous .
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar
2015-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-30
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 278.78 KB
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Description: "The government has promised to secure ethnic rights and the rights of original landowners in setting a new national land use policy...A national forum to discuss a draft national land use policy, which will create a framework for a new national land law, was held on June 29 and 30 in Nay Pyi Taw. Discussion was dominated by the question of the rights of ethnic community organisations and other rights groups. The Land Use Scrutiny and Allocation Central Committee (LUSAC), a government body led by Vice President U Nyan Tun which is steering the policy-formulation process, promised to update the draft in keeping with the decisions taken by the forum. ?We will respectfully insert the decisions of this forum into the draft,” said committee secretary U Kyaw Kyaw Lwin, who is also a deputy minister in the President?s Office. The forum decided to include representatives of farmers? organisations in the National Land Use Council. The latest draft, the sixth, says the council should be chaired by the vice president and should include the relevant Union ministers and state and region chief ministers. The draft would re-categorise ethnic ancestral land in accordance with the new land law and stop granting concessions on existing categories such as forest, farm or fallow land before completing the re-categorisation. It would also use traditional disputes settlement practices and allow the participation of ethnic representatives in dispute-settlement procedures. The ethnic CSOs demanded the inclusion of ethnic representatives at the decision-making level. Government officials said the new dispute settlement mechanism should not contradict the existing judiciary system. ?The traditional dispute settlement mechanism is recognised at the community level, but when the dispute is referred to the court, the mechanism should not contradict the existing judicial system. The decision will be made by the judge,” said U Tint Swe, the director of the Forest Administration Department of the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, the focal ministry for formulating new land policy..."
Creator/author: Sandar Lwin
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2015-07-03
Date of entry/update: 2015-07-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: A RESPONSE TO THE DRAFT NATIONAL LAND USE POLICY...."...The main problems with the current draft of the policy stem from: its failure to recognize that land has more than an economic function and that many past and present small land users have more than just economic attachments to their land; and from its failure to recognize that for any land policy to have political legitimacy and succeed, it must necessarily also have as one of its central purposes to seek to confront the twin issues of correcting past social injustices and promoting social justice. Additionally, the NLUP must address the question of how to move from an overly centralized system of governance in light of ethnic minority groups? desires to move towards a more federal system..."
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2015-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: Introduction: "The draft National Land Use Policy (NLUP) that was unveiled for public comment in October 2014 intends to create a clear national framework for managing land in Myanmar1. This is a very important step for Myanmar, given the fundamental importance of land policy for any society ? particularly those with recent and complex histories of political and armed conflict and protracted displaced populations. With 70% of Myanmar?s population living and working in rural areas, agriculture is a fundamental part of the country?s social and economic fabric. The majority of these are small-holder farmers, whose land rights are currently under threat. The situation is particularly dire for the country?s ethnic minority groups, who make up an estimated 30% of the population. Establishing an inclusive land use policy-making process that allows for - and encourages - full and meaningful participation for all rural working people is essential for ensuring a policy outcome that is widely and effectively accepted by society. The land use policy draft under discussion here has a national scope, and will likely have a long-term impact. Therefore it is of crucial importance to the future prospects and trajectories of agriculture and the lives of those engaged in the sector, with impacts not only upon how land is used, but also upon who will use it, under what conditions, for how long and with what purposes. Ensuring that all members of Myanmar?s rural communities are considered in the making of the policy, so that their needs are represented and their rights are upheld, is critical to its legitimacy and efficacy in providing a basis for democratic access and control over land and associated resources. This policy brief will focus upon the potential gender implications of the current policy draft and offer some suggestions as to how it might be improved to promote and strengthen women?s land rights within the Myanmar context..."
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2015-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 237.68 KB
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Description: နိုဝင်ဘာလ ၂၀၁၄ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အမျိုးသားမြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒမူကြမ်းနှင့်ပတ်သက်၍ Global Witness ၏ အဆိုပြုလွှာအနှစ်ချုပ် ဒီမိုကရေစီနိုင်ငံအဖြစ် ပြုပြင်ပြောင်းလဲမှုများပြုလုပ်ရာတွင်မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအစိုးရသည် အမျိုးသားမြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒမူကြမ်းကို ၂၀၁၄ ခုနှစ် အောက်တိုဘာလတွင်ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့် တိုင်ပင်ဆွေးနွေးရန်နောက်ဆက်တွဲမြေယာဥပဒေတစ်ခုအတွက် အစီအစဉ်များကိုလည်းထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ထိုသို့ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းသည် အလွန်အရေးကြီးသည့်လုပ်ဆောင်ချက်ဖြစ်ပြီး Global Witness အနေဖြင့် မြေနှင့်ပတ်သက်ပြီးခိုင်မာသောဥပဒေပြဋ္ဌာန်းမှုဆိုင်ရာမူဘောင်နှင့် ပြည်သူလူထုပါဝင်လာနိုင်မည့်အခွင့်အရေးများအတွက် အလားအလာများကို လက်ကမ်း ကြိုဆိုပါသည်။ သို့သော် အလွန်အရေးကြီးသည်မှာ ထိုသို့သော တိုင်ပင်ဆွေးနွေးမှုသည် အဓိပ္ပါယ်ရှိရမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး စစ်မှန်စွာပါဝင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းဖြစ်ရမည်။ ထို့နောက် ရရှိလာသောတုန့်ပြန်ချက်များကို မြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒနှင့် မြေ အသုံးချမှုဥပဒေတို့တွင် အပြည့်အဝပွင့်လင်းမြင်သာမှုဖြင့် ပေါင်းစပ်ထည့်သွင်းရမည်ဖြစ်သည်။ ထို့အပြင် အပြီးသတ်မြေအသုံးချမှုမူဝါဒနှင့် နောက်ဆက်တွဲမြေအသုံးချမှုဥပဒေတို့သည် ခိုင်ခံ့ရမည်ဖြစ်သည့်အပြင် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာအခြေခံစံနှုန်းများဖြင့် ကိုက်ညီသင့်သည်။ အထူးသဖြင့် မြေ၊ ငါးလုပ်ငန်းနှင့် သစ်တောများဆိုင်ရာလုပ်ပိုင်ခွင့်အပေါ် တာဝန်သိသော အုပ်ချုပ်မှုနှင့်ပတ်သက်သည့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ၏စေတနာအလျောက်လမ်းညွှန်ချက်များ(UN Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests) နှင့် ကိုက်ညီသင့်သည်။
Source/publisher: Global Witness
2014-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 301.4 KB
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Description: Summary: "As part of its transition to democratic reform, in October 2014, the Government of Myanmar released a draft national land policy and plans for a subsequent Land Law, for public consultation. The importance of this cannot be understated and Global Witness welcomes both the potential for a strong codified framework for land, and the opportunity for public participation. It is crucial, however, that consultation is meaningful and genuinely participatory, and the resulting feedback is incorporated into the policy and Land Law in a process that is fully transparent. What?s more, the final land policy and subsequent land law should be robust and in line with international standards, most notably, the UN Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests1. The guiding principles of the draft national land policy state that its objectives are to ?benefit and harmonize the land use, development and environmental conservation of the land resources of the State, to protect the land use right of the citizens and to improve land administration system.? This aim is extremely welcome as an essential step in achieving the urgently needed reforms in the country?s land governance. However what is notably absent from the policy is a clear roadmap of priorities to be addressed: genuine sustainable development should prioritise the land and user rights, livelihoods and food security of its population, followed by participatory land-use mapping to help guide decisions around the management and use of land. Only then should an assessment be made of what is required in terms of land investments and what, if any, areas of land should be allocated for commercial investment purposes. In its current form, however, the draft land policy makes no reference to poverty alleviation or food security, and instead appears to be openly promoting commercial investment in large-scale projects, potentially at the expense of Myanmar?s rural smallholders ? the majority of the population. The draft land policy has come under criticism for being pro-business; however, industry should still remain cautious about the reforms being proposed. In its current form, the draft policy presents an uncertain legal landscape which requires much clarification, particularly on several contradictory articles on how land and user rights will be protected. Insecure land and user rights can present a financial risk to both governments and companies as demonstrated through recent research at the global level: both The Munden Project2 - a global think-tank working on finance and sustainability - and the international coalition group Rights and Resources Initiative have demonstrated the financial risk to both governments and businesses associated with land investments in countries where tenure rights are unclear through a number of global case studies. It is therefore recommended that the Government of Myanmar, with the assistance of its development partners, revise the current draft of the land policy to ensure it has clear aims and objectives, and is based on international standards in particular, the UN Voluntary Guidelines of the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security."
Source/publisher: Global Witness
2014-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This article traces the revenue category and legal concept of the Waste Land in Burma/Myanmar from its original application by the British colonial apparatus in the nineteenth century, to its later use in tandem with Burma Army counterinsurgent tactics starting in the 1960s, and finally to the 2012 land laws and current issues in international investment. This adaptation of colonial ideas about territorialization in the context of an ongoing civil war offers a new angle for under- standing the relationship between military tactics and the political economy of conflict and counterinsurgent strategies which crucially depended on giving local militias—both government and nongovernment—high degrees of autonomy. The recent government changes, including the more civilian representation in parliament and its shift to engage with Western economies, raise questions regarding the future of the military, as well as local autonomy and the rural peasantry?s access to land. As increasing numbers of international investors are poised to enter the Myanmar market, this article will revisit notions of land use and appropriation, and finally the role of the army and its changing relationship with Waste Lands... Keywords: Burma, colonialism, counterinsurgency, land law, Myanmar, Waste Land
Creator/author: Jane M. Ferguson
Source/publisher: Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 35 (2014) 295?31
2014-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-01-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Land is often the most significant asset of most rural families. 70% of Myanmar?s population lives in rural areas and 70% of the population is engaged in agriculture and related activities. Many farmers use land communally under a customary land tenure system, especially in upland areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. Customary use and ownership of land is a widespread and longstanding practice. 257 The field assessments confirmed what is ev ident from secondary research: that for the vast majority of the Myanmar population dependent on access to land for livelihoods, where land is taken, even with monetary compensation, the impacts on an adequate standard of living can be significant. Compensation is often not keeping up with rapidly escalating land prices, meaning displaced farmers are unable to acquire new land in nearby areas.... In this section: A. National Context... B. Key Human Rights Implications for the O&G Sector... C. Field Assessment Finding
Source/publisher: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
2013-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-12-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...[O]n 19th June, 2012, the President of the Union guided on the following land reform matters to draw and implement the national development long term and short term plans: (a) To manage, calculate, use and carry out systematically the Sustainable Development of natural resources such as land, water, forest, mines to enable to use them future generations; (b)To manage and carry out systematically the land use policy and land use management not to cause land problems such as land use, land fluctuation and land trespass; (c) To disburse, coordinate and carry out with the Union Government, the Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee, the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Privatization Commission, the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Committee and relevant departments for urban and rural development plans and investment plans; (d)To carry out to renegotiate, draw and enact the laws and matters relating to tax and custom duty administered by the various departments relating to land in accord with international standards or existing situations..."
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee
2014-10-18
Date of entry/update: 2014-12-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ) (Metadata: English)
Format : pdf
Size: 658.45 KB
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Description: These forms relate to the Farmland Rules of 31 August 2012
Source/publisher: Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
2012-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2014-12-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 833.27 KB
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Description: Report Summary: "This case study has been produced in response to a request made to the Evidence on Demand Helpdesk. The objective of the request was to write a detailed case study on land tenure reform in a fragile and post-conflict state, Burma, and provide the reader with an understanding of how land tenure reform can work under the country?s particular social, political and economic conditions. Burma is a fragile state undergoing a period of profound economic and political reform following a period of conflict and isolation. As the poorest country in South Asia, land is the main asset for many people, especially in rural areas where most of Burma?s population lives. However, most farmers have weak tenure security, and in the recent past have been exposed to land expropriation by the Burmese army and the other state institutions of a military dictatorship. Additionally, in conflict-affected border states, the strategy of government forces and non-state armed groups to finance military operations by leasing land to investors has led to land grabbing on both sides. The recent political changes that have put the country back on the road to civilian rule have profound implications for security of land tenure. Land legislation passed in 2012 is meant to strengthen the formal land administration and provide more rights for landholders, including the right to lease and sell land. It also introduces a system for issuing land use certificates, which the government plans to roll out swiftly over the next few years. At the same time, the government?s policy to open up to foreign investment for large-scale agriculture, mining and industrial zones threatens to place further pressure on access to land. How recent legal reforms translate into land tenure reform, i.e. into changes in the terms and conditions of how land is held and transacted, remains to be seen and depends on whether state institutions desist from, and prevent, further expropriation, and whether the new Farmland Management Boards that administer land at the local level function effectively. Commentators warn that weaknesses in the legal framework potentially disadvantage farmer?s tenure security in the face of powerful state-backed interests; however, evidence suggesting if these fears are confirmed is unavailable. This case study discusses the content of these legal reforms in the context of Burmese politics, noting how some of the changes intended in the laws may have an impact on the tenure security of landholders. Donors can support improved land administration by increasing dialogue on land issues with political leaders, by funding technical expertise to assist land administration functions and land governance processes, and by highlighting learning experiences from other countries with similar characteristics. They can help rural landholders to improve their security of tenure by funding civil society groups to carry out research and awareness-raising campaigns among landholders, by providing direct training to farmers to better negotiate land sales or leases, and by funding activities that raise the awareness of private sector entities on how to avoid poor practices associated with leasing land."
Creator/author: Giles Henley
Source/publisher: ODI, DFID, CEIL PEAKS via Evidence on Demand
2014-03-14
Date of entry/update: 2014-11-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 386.73 KB
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Description: Opening Speech by Director General of the Forest Department ? Secretary of the Land Use Allotment Scrutinizing Committee... Presentation on draft national land use policy, U Aye Maung Sein, Director (retired) SLRD (Refer to Powerpoint)...Presentation on public consultation action plan and CSO pre-consultation, U Shwe Thein, LCG (Refer to Powerpoint)...Presentation on the framework of that national land law, U Aung Naing, Director Union Attorney General Office (Refer to Powerpoint)...Question and answer discussion 11.20 ? 12.05...Overview on national land resource management plan ? pilot projects ? Dr Myat Su Mon (refer to powerpoint)...Presentation on One Map Myanmar Concept, Dr Myat Su Mon, AD, Forest Department (refer to presentation)...Presentation on collaboration on national land resource management related monitoring and evaluation ? Rob Obendorf...Question and Discussion 14.30-15.30...Closing Remarks by Director General of the Forest Department ? Secretary of the Land Use Allotment Scrutinizing Committee
Source/publisher: Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee
2014-10-18
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 552.41 KB
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Description: "...[O]n 19th June, 2012, the President of the Union guided on the following land reform matters to draw and implement the national development long term and short term plans: (a) To manage, calculate, use and carry out systematically the Sustainable Development of natural resources such as land, water, forest, mines to enable to use them future generations; (b)To manage and carry out systematically the land use policy and land use management not to cause land problems such as land use, land fluctuation and land trespass; (c) To disburse, coordinate and carry out with the Union Government, the Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee, the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Privatization Commission, the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Committee and relevant departments for urban and rural development plans and investment plans; (d)To carry out to renegotiate, draw and enact the laws and matters relating to tax and custom duty administered by the various departments relating to land in accord with international standards or existing situations..."
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Land Use Allocation and Scrutinizing Committee
2014-10-18
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 269.13 KB
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Description: A provision allowing a change to the land use policy every five years has been put in the draft of the National Land Bill, according to U Shwe Thein, a consultant with the Land Use MANAGEMENTCommittee. U Shwe Thein said, ?Unlike a ?crony-law?, a policy cannot be used for many years [without amendment]. In the bill, we systematically put in a provision to change the policy every five years, and for the change to the policy to be based on research findings.” The clauses setting the standards and procedures to protect the land rights of the people, including the national ethnic people, will be contained in the land use policy, according to U Shwe Thein.
Creator/author: Nan Myint
Source/publisher: "Mizzima"
2014-10-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 181.08 KB
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Description: The phrase ?land grab” has become common in Myanmar, often making front page news. This reflects the more open political space available to talk about injustices, as well as the escalating severity and degree of land dispossession under the new government. But this seemingly simple two-word phrase is in fact very complex and opaque. It thus deserves greater clarity in order to better understand the deep layers of meaning to farmers in the historical political context of Myanmar. Understanding the deeper significance and meaning that farmers attach to the words ?land grab” entails frank discussions of formerly taboo subjects related to the country?s history of armed conflict, illicit drugs, cronyism and racism. Various state and non-state armed actors have been responsible for land grabs in Myanmar during the past several decades, mirroring recent historical periods.
Creator/author: Kevin Woods
Source/publisher: Myanmar Times
2014-03-03
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: A joint preliminary assessment by TNI Myanmar Project and TNI Agrarian Justice Programme.....Summary: "October 18, 2014 saw the official unveiling by the government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar of its much-awaited draft national land use policy. Once it is finalized, the new policy will guide the establishment of a new overarching framework for the governance of tenure of land and related natural resources like forests for years to come. As such, it is of vital importance. This preliminary assessment aims to shed light on the key aspects of the draft policy and its potential implications for the country?s majority rural working poor, especially its ethnic minority peoples, although they are not the only ones whose future prospects hinge on how this policy making process will unfold. The scope of the policy is national and clearly intends to determine for years to come how land will be used ? especially by whom and for what purposes ? in lowland rural and urban areas as well. Focused critical engagement by civil society groups will likely be needed to ensure that the policy process addresses the concerns and aspirations of all rural working people system wide. Initial scrutiny suggests that those who see the land problem today as a problem of business and investment ? e.g., how to establish a more secure environment particularly for foreign direct investments ? are likely to be pleased with the draft policy. Those who think that the land problem goes deeper ? e.g., implicating the social-ecological foundations of the country?s unfolding politi - cal-economic transition ? are likely to be seriously concerned. This suggests that focused efforts at trying to influence the content and character of the draft policy are needed. The government?s decision to open the policy process to public participation is therefore a welcome one. Yet whether and to what extent this public consultation process will be truly free and meaningful remains to be seen"
Source/publisher: Transnational Institute (TNI)
2014-10-23
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Through research on Myanmar, we argue that in authoritarian settings where legality has drastically declined, the starting point for cause lawyering lies in advocacy for law itself, in advocating for the regular application of law?s rules. Because this characterization is liable to be misunderstood as formalistic, particularly by persons familiar with less authoritarian, more legally coherent settings than the one with which we are here concerned, it deserves some brief comments before we continue...By insisting upon legal formality as a condition of transformative justice, cause lawyers in Myanmar advocate for the inherent value of rules in the courtroom, but also incrementally build a constituency in the wider society. In advocating for faithful application of declared rules, in insisting on formal legality in the public domain, lawyers encourage people to mobilize around law as an idea, essential for making law meaningful in practice. They promote a notion of the legal system as once more an arena in which citizens can set up interests that are not congruent with those of the state; an arena in which cause lawyering is made viable and in which the cause lawyer has a distinctive role to play..." Includes description and discussion of the Kanma land-grab case.....The digitised version may contain errors so the original is included an an Alternate URL.
Creator/author: Nick Cheesman, Kyaw Min San
Source/publisher: Wisconsin International Law Journal
2014-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-08-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 226.32 KB 1.57 MB
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Description: "President of Myanmar, U Thein Sein, announced that the government cannot give back over 30,000 acres of paddy land that the state has been using since it was confiscated by the army two decades ago. On the one hand the President ordered state and regional governments and land management committee to cooperate with members of the parliament to solve the problem of land grabbing cases. On the other hand he has announced the government cannot handover some land back. This is leading to prosecution and prison sentences for the farmers in conflict with the army regarding their land...On 27 and 28 May 2014, 190 farmers from Pharuso Township, Kayah State were prosecuted for ploughing in land confiscated by No.531 Light Infantry Battalion. Tanintharyi regional government seized farmland for Dawei New Town Plan Project in Dawai Township and the District Administrative Officer with his team began construction on the grabbed land. Twenty farmers who did not take compensation for their land tried to halt the team. As a result, all the farmers were prosecuted; 10 were sentenced to 3 to 9 months imprisonment and the others paid fines. There are 450 farmers from Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region who are protesting against the military and have had cases filed against them for cultivating in the confiscated land..."
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission
2014-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2014-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Farmland Law and the VFV Law were approved by Parliament on March 30th, 2012. There have been a few improvements compared to previous laws such as recognition of non-rotational taungya as a legitimate land-use and recognition that farmers are using VFV lands without formal recognition by the Government. However overall the Laws lack clarity and provide weak protection of the rights of smallholder farmers in upland areas and do not explicitly state the equal rights of women to register and inherit land or be granted land-use rights for VFV land. The Laws remain designed primarily to foster promotion of large-scale agricultural investment and fail to provide adequate safeguards for the majority of farmers who are smallholders. In particular tenure security for farmland remains weak due to the Government retaining power to rescind farm land use rights leaving smallholders vulnerable to dispossession of their land-use rights. In addition there remains some unnecessary de-facto government control over the crop choices of farmers. In particular it is recommended that recognition of land-use rights under customary law and the creation of mechanisms for communal registration of land-use rights, be included in the Farmland and VFV Laws. There needs to be a comprehensive process of re-classifying land in the country to reflect land-use changes resulting from conversion of forests and VFV land into agricultural land, loss of agricultural land due to development projects, urban expansion and population growth. This will serve to reduce land conflict in the countryside and provide genuine tenure security for smallholders. Furthermore the specific and independent rights of women must be explicitly stated in the Laws. Added to this the fundamental principle of free, prior and informed consent should be enshrined, especially in regard to removal of land-use rights in the national interest. It is also necessary that the Government works in partnership with civil society and farmers associations to revise the Farmland and VFV Laws..."
Creator/author: Robert B. Oberndorf, J. D.
Source/publisher: Forest Trends, Food Security Working Group?s Land Core Group
2012-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-07-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 236.37 KB
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Description: "The new wave of political reforms have set Myanmar on a road to unprecedented economic expansion, but, without targeted policy efforts and regulation to even the playing field, the benefits of new investment will filter down to only a few, leaving small - scale farmers ? the backbone of the Myanmar economy ? unable to benefit from this growth...KEY RECOMMENDATIONS: If Myanmar is to meet its ambitions on equitable growth, political leaders must put new policies and regulation to generate equitable growth at the heart of their democratic reform agenda. Along with democratic reforms, and action to end human-rights abuses, these policies must: * Address power inequalities in the markets; * Put small-scale farmers at the center of new agricultural investments; * Close loopholes in law and practice that leave the poorest open to land-rights abuses..."
Source/publisher: OXFAM
2013-06-04
Date of entry/update: 2013-07-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 265.75 KB
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Description: Bridging the HLP Gap - The Need to Effectively Address Housing, Land and Property Rights During Peace Negotiations and in the Context of Refugee/IDP Return: Preliminary Recommendations to the Government of Myanmar, Ethnic Actors and the International Community.....Executive Summary: "Of the many challenging issues that will require resolution within the peace processes currently underway between the government of Myanmar and various ethnic groups in the country, few will be as complex, sensitive and yet vital than the issues comprising housing, land and property (HLP) rights. Viewed in terms of the rights of the sizable internally displaced person (IDP) and refugee populations who will be affected by the eventual peace agreements, and within the broader political reform process, HLP rights will need to form a key part of all of the ongoing moves to secure a sustainable peace, and be a key ingredient within all activities dedicated to ending displacement in Myanmar today. The Government Myanmar (including the military) and its various ethnic negotiating partners – just as with all countries that have undergone deep political transition in recent decades, including those emerging from lengthy conflicts – need to fully appreciate and comprehend the nature and scale of the HLP issues that have emerged in past decades, how these have affected and continue to affect the rights and perspectives of justice of those concerned, and the measures that will be required to remedy HLP concerns in a fair and equitable manner that strengthens the foundations for permanent peace. Resolving forced displacement and the arbitrary acquisition and occupation of land, addressing the HLP and other human rights of returning refugees and IDPs in areas of return, ensuring livelihood and other economic opportunities and a range of other measures will be required if return is be sustainable and imbued with a sense of justice. There is an acute awareness among all of those involved in the ongoing peace processes of the centrality of HLP issues within the context of sustainable peace, however, all too little progress has thus far been made to address these issues in any detail, nor have practical plans commenced to resolve ongoing displacement of either refugees or IDPs. Indeed, the negotiating positions of both sides on key HLP issues differ sharply and will need to be bridged; many difficult decisions remain to be made..."
Creator/author: Scott Leckie
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions
2013-06-02
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.6 MB
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Description: Farmland Act (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No.ll of 2012) Day of 8th Waxing of Tagu 1373 ME (30th March, 2012).....The translation has some notable shortcomings...
Source/publisher: Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (GRUM) via UN Habitat
2012-03-30
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 62.38 KB
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Description: Notification No 62/2012 - 14 Waxing Wagaung 1374 ME (31, August, 2012) - Designating the Date of Coming into Force of Farm Land Law...The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation promulgated the following rules by using the power vested by the section-42, sub-section (a) of farm land law with the approval of Pyidaungsu Government.... 1. These rules shall be called farm land rules. 2. The words and expressions contained in these rules shall mean as contained in Farm Land Law. And the following words shall mean as described..."
Source/publisher: The Republic of the Union of Myanmar President Office
2012-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2013-01-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, exercising its given rights, and with the approval of the Union Government, has issued the following rules in accordance with Section 34, Subsection (a) of the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law - 1. These rules shall be called the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Rules. 2. The terms and expressions used in these rules shall have the same meaning as used in the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law. In addition, the following expressions shall have the meanings as stated below:
Source/publisher: The Republic of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (Unofficial Translation by UN-Habitat)
2012-08-31
Date of entry/update: 2013-01-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 295.15 KB
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Description: "...In the last six to eight months there?s been a lot of commotion made about land disputes in Burma. Legally speaking, what?s setting the precedent for this to happen now? Well the whole phenomenon needs to be looked at in terms of the history of the country when it comes to land ever since independence, whereby a system of law, which essentially gave all power to the state when it came to the control, use and allocation of land, was used and very often abused by those who were members of the state or closely associated with the state to acquire land for personal benefit. That process may take a slightly different form today and may manifest itself in slightly different ways than it did in the past, but the environment now – with greater openness and greater commercial possibilities, business possibilities and investment possibilities – has put ever greater and increasing pressure on land with the net result being that values go up, expectations go up, and therefore the incentives to acquire land and benefit from it personally have also consequentially expanded. That of course leaves those who reside on the land in an extremely difficult position, particularly in a country which traditionally has not taken housing, land and property (HLP) rights of the citizenry very seriously..."
Creator/author: David Stout
Source/publisher: Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)
2012-11-05
Date of entry/update: 2012-11-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Executive Summary: "Few issues are as frequently discussed and politically charged in transitional Myanmar as the state of housing, land and property (HLP) rights. The effectiveness of the laws and policies that address the fundamental and universal human need for a place to live, to raise a family, and to earn a living, is one of the primary criterion by which most people determine the quality of their lives and judge the effectiveness and legitimacy of their Governments. Housing, land and property issues undergird economic relations, and have critical implications for the ability to vote and otherwise exercise political power, for food security and for the ability to access education and health care. As the nation struggles to build greater democracy and seeks growing engagement with the outside world, Myanmar finds itself at an extraordinary juncture; in fact, it finds itself at the HLP Crossroads. The decisions the Government makes about HLP matters during the remainder of 2012 and beyond, in particular the highly controversial issue of potentially transforming State land into privately held assets, will set in place a policy direction that will have a marked impact on the future development of the country and the day-to-day circumstances in which people live. Getting it right will fundamentally and positively transform the nation from the bottom-up and help to create a nation that consciously protects the rights of all and shows the true potential of what was until very recently one of the world?s most isolated nations. Getting it wrong, conversely, will delay progress, and more likely than not drag the nation?s economy and levels of human rights protections downwards for decades to come. Myanmar faces an unprecedented scale of structural landlessness in rural areas, increasing displacement threats to farmers as a result of growing investment interest by both national and international firms, expanding speculation in land and real estate, and grossly inadequate housing conditions facing significant sections of both the urban and rural population. Legal and other protections afforded by the current legal framework, the new Farmland Law and other newly enacted legislation are wholly inadequate. These conditions are further compounded by a range of additional HLP challenges linked both to the various peace negotiations and armed insurgencies in the east of the country, in particular Kachin State, and the unrest in Rakhine State in the western region. The Government and people of Myanmar are thus struggling with a series of HLP challenges that require immediate, high-level and creative attention in a rights-based and consistent manner. As the country begins what will be a long and arduous journey toward democratization, the rule of law and stable new institutions, laws and procedures, the time is ripe for the Government to work together with all stakeholders active within the HLP sector to develop a unique Myanmar- centric approach to addressing HLP challenges that shows the country?s true potential. And it is also time for the Government to begin to take comprehensive measures - some quick and short-term, others more gradual and long-term - to equitably and intelligently address the considerable HLP challenges the country faces, and grounding these firmly within the reform process.Having thoroughly examined the de facto and de jure HLP situation in the country based on numerous interviews, reports and visits, combined with an exhaustive review of the entire HLP legislative framework in place in the country, this report recommends that the following four general measures be commenced by the Government of Myanmar before the end of 2012 to improve the HLP prospects of Myanmar:..."
Source/publisher: Displacement Solutions
2012-10-25
Date of entry/update: 2012-10-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.43 MB
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Description: "This note is meant to serve as a quick reference for local authorities and NGOs to acquire an understanding of relevant land laws and the context of land-use in Myanmar. All land and all natural resources in Myanmar, above and below the ground, above and beneath the water, and in the atmosphere is ultimately owned by the Union of Myanmar. Although the socialist economic system was abolished in 1988, the existing Land Law and Directions were not changed in parallel, and thus these are still in use today in accordance with the ?Adaptation of Expression of Law? of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No 8/88..."
Source/publisher: UN Habitat, UNHCR
2010-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.74 MB
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