• Burmese
Friday, June 20, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Burma Defense Ministry Says Contested Land to Become Homes for Veterans

Yen Saning by Yen Saning
January 28, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Burma Defense Ministry Says Contested Land to Become Homes for Veterans

Land in eastern Rangoon’s Michaungkan village was planted with vegetables before farmer were evicted last year. (Photo: Ma Tar)

3.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — Burma’s Ministry of Defense has said it will not return land in eastern Rangoon’s Thingangyun Township that was forcibly seized during military rule, since it plans to build new homes for veterans on the land.

Hundreds of former occupiers of land in Michaungkan village, evicted in the early 1990s, say they were not properly compensated for their land, which would now be highly valuable.

Another group of one-time occupiers, 179 families of vegetable farmers to whom the army rented the land after the initial evictions, were themselves moved off the land in June 2013.

RelatedPosts

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency, Activists Say

August 4, 2016
4.5k
Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

August 4, 2016
4.3k
Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

August 3, 2016
13.2k

In a private letter to lawmaker Thein Nyunt, who has taken up the displaced vegetable farmers’ cause in Parliament, the Defense Ministry said the 33.855 acres of the land would not be returned to anyone, since it would soon be used to build homes for former army employees.

The letter insisted that the land was military property, and that under the law, rented land can be taken back at any time.

The ministry said it had provided temporary plots of land in East Dagon, on the outskirts of Rangoon, for 56 vegetable farming families to live on for six months. But that period has already expired, and the farmers say they have nowhere else to go.

Thein Nyunt told The Irrawaddy that the ministry appeared to be conflating the two groups of former occupiers in its response, as it did not distinguish between the claims of the vegetable farmers and the pre-1990s owners.

He said the vegetable growers simply wanted to be allowed to continue renting the land.

“We are not encouraging them to violate the law by keep sticking in the area,” he said.

“They have been growing crops there for 20 years and paying taxes. We are not asking [the army] to give the land back to them as their own possession, but to rent them the land so that they can grow and keep their livelihoods,” Thein Nyunt said, adding that the military should also compensate the original owners of the land properly.

As for the claim the seized land will be turned into homes for veterans, Thein Nyunt said he was not certain this plan would ever come to fruition.

U Kyaw, another lawmaker for Rangoon Division, said the new temporary land given to the vegetable farmers is very small—with plots measuring only 20 by 30 feet—and that much of the land was flooded and unusable.

“The place is no bigger than cowshed,” he said of the small temporary plots.

Soe Mi Mi Thu, one of the vegetable growers who has campaigned against the eviction and is better known as Ma Tar, said she wanted to hold a press conference to clear up the confusion about the two different groups and their different demands.

She also said the vegetable farmers had no security in their “temporary” land plots. “We don’t know what the relevant department will arrange for us after the six months of temporary stay,” Ma Tar said.

Hundreds of the pre-1990s occupiers repeatedly protested last year, and set up a protest camp on the land in November. That camp was finally abandoned in December after Aung Thein Lin, a ruling-party lawmaker and a member of Parliament’s Land Investigation Committee, promised to investigate the case urgently.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: More
Yen Saning

Yen Saning

Similar Picks:

ABSDF Report Finds Torture
Burma

ABSDF Report Finds Torture, Leaves Questions in Killing of Its Own

by Nyein Nyein
March 16, 2015
6.2k

A report into the killing of 35 members of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front by its own leadership documents...

Read moreDetails
‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess
Burma

‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess

by Nyein Nyein
May 30, 2016
11.2k

Movie about Inge Sargent, an Austrian who became a Shan princess, is screened in Thailand, shedding light on human rights...

Read moreDetails
A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand
Burma

A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand

by Saw Yan Naing
August 21, 2015
6k

Hoping for a brighter future, Maung Htay left Burma when he was just a teenager. He is now 42, but...

Read moreDetails
Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma
Asia

Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma

by Nyein Nyein
July 16, 2016
10.3k

Known locally as Mahachai, and by foreigners as ‘Little Burma,’ Thailand’s Samut Sakhon hosts up to 400,000 Burmese migrants working...

Read moreDetails
Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft
Burma

Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft

by The Irrawaddy
February 26, 2013
13.1k

A 15-year-old girl who says her employer repeatedly raped her is taken into custody after the wife of her alleged...

Read moreDetails
Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?
Burma

Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?

by Patrick Boehler and Echo Hui
January 4, 2013
4.7k

Serious doubts have been raised about the awarding of a dubious United Nations peace prize to Kokang Chairman Pai Sou...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Burma’s Heart-Shaped ‘Treasure’ of a Lake Threatened: Activists

Burma’s Heart-Shaped ‘Treasure’ of a Lake Threatened: Activists

Thailand to Go Ahead With Feb. 2 Election

Thailand to Go Ahead With Feb. 2 Election, Despite Warnings of Chaos

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

Myanmar Tourism Sector Mocks Junta’s Russia Tourist Drive

6 days ago
1.7k
Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

6 days ago
1.8k

Most Read

  • On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Global Campaign Reaches Goal to Honor Aung San Suu Kyi on Her 80th Birthday

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bago Resistance Claims 20 Myanmar Junta Personnel Killed

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thai PM Faces Growing Calls to Quit in Cambodia Phone Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ADB Announces Record $100m Quake Aid Package for Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.