This Photo Set depicts road construction, including the Asian Highway, in Kyainseikgyi and Win Yay townships, Dooplaya District between November 2014 and January 2015. Villager testimony describes land confiscation and the destruction of houses, shops, and plantations in order to make way for the roads. Villagers also report a lack of compensation for the land and crops destroyed as a result of the road construction....

...Laid Waste documents the suffering of villagers along the 180-mile Kanbauk to Myaing
Kalay gas pipeline. Ten years after the pipeline’s initial construction, villagers along its
route continue to see their land seized and income taken as they are conscripted into
work as forced laborers and subject to arbitrary detentions, torture and summary
execution. This report is released at a time when international debate on appropriate
responses to the situation in Burma appears to be renewing. The discussion is healthy

Pinpet Mountain under imminent threat
as iron project speeds ahead....
"Excavation of Burma’s second largest iron deposit located
in southern Shan State is imminent as bulldozers begin
preparatory clearing on the iconic Pinpet Mountain, home
to 7,000 people. The 300 residents in Pang Ngo village are
in immediate danger from falling rocks and landslides as
machines uproot trees, clear brush and remove top soil on
the west side of the mountain. Farm fi elds at the foot of the
mountain may be covered with toxic waste soils once the

The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (hereafter “Kaladan Project”) will see
the construction of a combined inland waterway and highway transportation system
connecting Mizoram State in Northeast India with a Bay of Bengal deepsea port at Sitetway,
Arakan State in Western Burma. The Indian government is entirely financing the
Kaladan Project, and these funds are officially classified as development aid to Burma.
Once completed, the infrastructure will belong to the Burma government, but the project

Summary:
"• Although Burma is rich in energy resources, the ruling military regime exports those
resources, leaving people with chronic energy shortages. The exploitation of natural
resources, including through mining, has caused severe environmental and social
impacts on local communities as companies that invest in these projects have no
accountability to affected communities.
• There are over 16 large-scale coal deposits in Burma, with total coal resources of over

Shwe Pipeline Brings Land Confiscation, Militarization and Human Rights Violations to the Ta’ang People.
The Ta’ang Students and Youth Organization (TSYO) released a report today called “Pipeline Nightmare” that illustrates how the Shwe Gas and Oil Pipeline project, which will transport oil and gas across Burma to China, has resulted in the confiscation of people’s lands, forced labor, and increased military presence along the pipeline, affecting thousands of people.

Only 40 kms north of the Thai border
in the mountains of eastern Shan State,
Thai investors are poised to begin
mining and burning large reserves
of coal at Mong Kok. Ihis
project — which will ravage a
pristine valley and poison
the Kok River, impacting
countless Shan and northern
Thai communities downstream
- must be stopped immediately.
The Italian-Thai Power Company has entered into
agreements with the Burmese military regime to
develop an open-pit coal mine and power plant at

(Survey in NgaPhe` Township, MinBu District, Magway Division and Thipaw Township, Kyauk
Mae District, Northern Shan State)
By BadeiDha Moe Civil Society Organization.....

Conclusions: "Amnesty International’s latest research shows that hundreds of people close to the giant Letpadaung mine continue to face the risk of forced eviction from their farmland, and in the case of four villages, from their homes as well. In addition, thousands of people living in the area are at risk from Myanmar Wanbao’s inadequate management of environmental risk at the Letpadaung mine, which is situated in a flood and earthquake-prone area. The ESIA for the mine contains fundamental gaps and weaknesses, which Myanmar Wanbao has still not addressed.

... 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.

INTRODUCTION: "The November 8, 2015 elections in Myanmar
marked a historic milestone in the country’s political
and economic transition that began in 2011.
Incoming policy makers are preparing to pick up the
baton and deliver on the people’s strong aspirations for
a harmonious and prosperous Myanmar. In this series
of policy notes, the World Bank Group seeks to promote
dialogue on critical development challenges and
on options for policies and reforms that can contribute
to shared prosperity for the people of Myanmar.

Identifies the drivers of the land use changes that have displaced millions of rural people and continue to threaten millions more – particularly women; it unpacks the key land policy guidelines and why they have so far failed to ‘stick’ on the ground, and it sets out 14 actions to get to grips with the problem and push forward community land rights across Africa.