INDONESIA

Burmese Going Homeless for SEA Games Preparation

Burmese Going Homeless for SEA Games Preparation

Locals say they are being forced off their land in the lead up to the South East Asian games that will be held in Myanmar.

As the country prepares for the biggest tourism event to date, coconut farmers are finding themselves homeless and jobless as their farms are destroyed in preparation for sailing events.

U Tun Oo now makes his living as a trishaw driver.

20 years ago his home and livelihood were taken from him when his land was confiscated by the military government.

“From the street to here was all my land,” he recalls.

The land was taken in preparation for a hotel zone in the beach town of Chaung Tha, and he wasn’t given compensation. “Until this area, from here straight to the other side. Altogether 16 acres.”

U Tun oo was paid less than a dollar for each coconut tree, and given nothing for the price of the land. 

Where his coconut farm once stood there is now an expensive hotel owned by one of Myanmar’s richest businessman Zaw Zaw, founder of Max Myanmar Group, and well known for his connections to the former government.

Two decades later Tin Oo struggles to make ends meet.

“In the past, we had rice from our farms and coconut from our gardens and we had to rely on that throughout our lifetime.  And now we are left with no jobs and I am ending up driving trishaw on the road.”

U Tun Oo is just one of hundreds of landowners affected by land grabbing in Chaung Tha and Ngwe Saung resorts on the west coast of Myanmar’s Irrawaddy division.

Now the South East Asian games are coming to this area and the problem is happening again.

“The second time was in 2011, June 16th,” says farmer Moe Thant.

“The second minister of sports U Win Myint said Myanmar will host the SEA Games in 2013. And the government would use our land for the sailing venue. ‘We will use your coconut land and so we will support your families’ - that’s what they said.”

But the promise of support hasn’t come.

Moe Thant is from one of four families in the area who are filing complaints after having their land taken away.  The lawyers supporting their case say the land confiscation is unlawful.

“The cases we have now are neither in the interest of the public nor the country but only for the interest of the companies and private individuals,” Po Phyu, lawyer for the farmers.

“The Land Acquisition Act provided that such confiscation require compensation accordingly to the market value. But the companies are confiscating without providing compensation –
and moreover, [victims] if not satisfied should be allowed to pursue a legal challenge at the court  but they are not allowed to do this either.  And so all these land confiscations are absolutely illegal and lawless.”

Their land was first taken in 1997 but for 13 years nothing was done with it so the family returned to farm.

But Moe Thant said they didn’t get any compensation.

“We didn't get compensation from the government.  So we made a fence in the area that was the SEA games area. For doing this action the coordinator of this event from Irrawaddy division charged us with trespassing. Actually, we just built this on our land, he can't just say this is trespassing.”

Recent democratic changes in the country have allowed people greater freedom to challenge authorities when they feel they have been unfairly treated.

But to lawyer Po Phyu, getting the right result is a different story. “They have more freedom in the right to claim but the demands are not being met.”

As the case continues the ownership of the land is still disputed. But in the mean time, these villagers are worried for their future.

U Tin Oo is getting older, and without the guaranteed income from his land he must keep riding his trishaw to get by.

“When we were on this land, even though we were not rich. We could survive every day and we didn’t need to worry about our daily survival. Now we don’t have any property and we have more trouble. Now we have to work day to day.”

It’s too late now for most of the land to be returned. Villagers can just ask for a proper compensation deal for the actual price of the land.

As Myanmar opens up the country is developing rapidly and landowners are even more at risk of being exploited.  

  • Burma SEA Games
  • Burma homeless
  • force off land for SEA Games in Burma

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