• Burmese
Saturday, June 14, 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

Kayah Farmers Continue Military Protest, Now in Silence

Lawi Weng by Lawi Weng
July 4, 2019
in Burma
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
Farmers in Demoso Township, Kayah State, hold a silent protest against military land seizures in the middle of town on Thursday, July 4 2019. / Kayah Youth Meeting Point / Facebook

Farmers in Demoso Township, Kayah State, hold a silent protest against military land seizures in the middle of town on Thursday, July 4 2019. / Kayah Youth Meeting Point / Facebook

6.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Farmers in Demoso Township, Kayah State staged protests in two locations within the township Thursday against what they say are illegal seizures of their land by the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw).

The farmers asked the Tatmadaw to return their land and to release other farmers that have recently been detained.

“We do not have any more land to grow food on now that the army has seized all our land. We wanted to show the army how we have been suffering, so we held a protest,” Ka Kar, a leader of one of the protests, told The Irrawaddy Thursday.

RelatedPosts

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

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

June 13, 2025
412
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

June 11, 2025
931
Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

June 6, 2025
2.5k

Dozens joined in silence at the protests, holding handwritten signs demanding their land, a solution to the land use issues that plague the area and the release of previously detained farmers.

Explaining the silent tactic the protesters have taken, Ka Kar said “We feel it is undemocratic when the government and the army do not listen to our voice.”

One protest was held at the town’s central traffic circle while the other was held at the Ngwe Taung Dam.

Ka Kar said he sought approval from the police before organizing the protest and creating the posters, and that police told him the Tatmadaw would not allow the protesters to use the military’s name on the posters.

“I asked them, so who took our land if not the army,” he said.

In the end, the protest signs on Thursday ultimately did not name the army.

There are three separate land disputes in the region—over 50 and 300 acres on two adjacent tracts in Loikaw and over one 100-acre tract in Demoso Township. Locals say all three were seized by the military without compensation between 1989 and 1991.

Despite the seizures, they continued farming the land until 2014, when the military disallowed it. Still, some continued or tried to continue growing on the land after that.

Protests intensified recently when the military erected a fence blocking a trail leading to local farmland. According to the Tatmadaw, farmers trespassed into a battalion compound, destroying the fence and hundreds of trees grown as a winbreak.

Captain Aung Myo Tun of No. 360 Artillery Battalion opened a case against 12 individuals, including reporters, on June 19, causing several farmers to flee into hiding.

Three farmers were arrested on July 2 by the military, and another two were arrested in June. The military has asked police to take action against nine farmers in total.

“We asked [the military] to release our farmers. It is not fair to take our land and arrest our farmers,” said Ka Kar.

“When we see the army, we do not see a people defending the country anymore. We just see people who’ve come to destroy our rice pot,” he said.

A military spokesperson was not available for comment Thursday evening.

You may also like these stories:

Govt Has Duty to Solve This: Kayah Farmers

Myanmar Military Sues 3 Reporters over Farmers’ Protest in Loikaw

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Kayah farmersland disputeLand seizureMilitaryTatmadaw
Lawi Weng

Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns
War Against the Junta

AA Urges Myanmar Junta Troops to Surrender as Western Command Burns

by The Irrawaddy
December 18, 2024
25.3k

Ethnic army reportedly poised to capture regime’s last stronghold in Rakhine State.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion
Burma

Myanmar General in Charge of Shan State Disaster Handed Surprise Promotion

by The Irrawaddy
February 5, 2024
24.4k

Naing Naing Oo elevated to Lieutenant-General and made chief of powerful Bureau of Special Operations No. 2, in a reshuffle...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Chief of Eastern Command Purged After Karenni Defeats
Burma

Myanmar’s Chief of Eastern Command Purged After Karenni Defeats

by The Irrawaddy
January 12, 2024
20.1k

Major-General Hla Moe is reportedly the latest junta commander to pay the price for sweeping gains made by resistance forces. 

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts
Analysis

Myanmar Junta Counteroffensives Failing Across Country: Analysts

by Hein Htoo Zan
September 20, 2024
16.7k

Three major operations to retake territory from ethnic armies and their allies are being hampered by troop shortages, experts say.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands
Burma

Myanmar Junta Orders All Security Personnel to Frontline as Losses Mount in Hard-Hit Regional Commands

by The Irrawaddy
May 31, 2024
13.5k

Full-time military service order covers soldiers, personnel, police and border guards in eight regional commands.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say
Burma

Myanmar Junta Begins Forced Conscription of Women in Some Areas, Residents Say

by Hein Htoo Zan
May 31, 2024
13.5k

The regime is selecting women from lists of eligible conscripts and building barracks for them in Ayeyarwady; in Bago, women...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Arakanese activist Ko Than Hla poses for a picture at the ‘Rakhine Life Matters’ protest in the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, on Tuesday. / Ko Than Hla / Facebook

‘Rakhine Life Matters’ Protesters Sought by Police in Sittwe

A worker plants seedlings for a reforestation at Huayquecha Biological Station to capture emissions near Paucartambo, Cusco December 5, 2014. Scientists say tropical locations are especially good places for such projects. / Reuters

Scientists Urge Climate Protesters to Save Planet by Planting Trees

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

Will Myanmar’s Military Replace Its Embattled Leader?

1 week ago
2.5k
How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

How the Myanmar Military’s Propaganda Efforts Have Evolved Over the Decades

2 days ago
931

Most Read

  • Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    Civilians in Need as Arakan Army Advances on Kyaukphyu

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Advances into Karenni State

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Jade Hub Burns as Junta Counteroffensive Penetrates Hpakant

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China Defends Myanmar Junta on Human Rights at UN

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Untested Commander Takes Charge as Myanmar Military Faces Toughest Challenge in Decades

    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.