Abstract"
"This research was framed by a human rights approach to development as pursued by Amartya
Sen. Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development but they are the principle means of
development. The research was informed by international obligations to human rights and was placed
within a context of global pluralism and recognition of universal human dignity. The first research aim
was to study the State Peace and Development Council military regime confiscation of land and labour of

...The objective of this research paper is to describe specific ways in which the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) deprives the people of Burma of their land
and livelihood. Confiscation of land, labour, crops and capital; destruction of person
and property; forced labour; looting and expropriation of food and possessions;
forced sale of crops to the military; extortion of money through official and
unofficial taxes and levies; forced relocation and other abuses by the State...

...The main objective of this research is to examine housing, land, and property rights in the context of Burma’s societal transition towards a democratic polity and economy. Much has been written and discussed about property rights in their various manifestations, private, public, collective, and common in terms of “rights”. When property rights are widely and fairly distributed, they are inseparable from the rights of people to a means of living.

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In Myanmar, as in other countries of the Mekong, it is widely acknowledged that the clearing of forests to
make way for the expansion of commercial agricultural fields is increasingly the leading driver of deforestation,
alongside legal and illegal logging, and the clearance of forest areas to make way for infrastructure projects
such as roads and hydropower dams. While the conversion of forests for agricultural development has been
occurring for many decades, it is the unprecedented rate of this conversion that is now so astounding — as

Conclusion: "Most relevant reports and surveys I have been able to access state essentially that people from all parts of Burma leave home either in obedience to a direct relocation order from the military or civil authorities or as a result of a process whereby coercive measures imposed by the authorities play a major role in forcing down household incomes to the point where the family cannot survive. At this point, leaving home may seem to be the only option.

This report is a preliminary exploration of forced migration/internal displacement in Burma/Myanmar in two main areas. The first is the status in terms of international standards, specifically those embodied in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, of the people who leave home not because of conflict or relocation orders, but as a result of a range of coercive measures which drive down incomes to the point that the household economy collapses and people have no choice but to leave home.

Contents:
1. Introduction
1.1 Purpose of Discussion Paper
2. Background History
2.1 Ethnic Politics and Military Interference
3. Land tenure legislation (1948-62)
3.1 Earlier a brief period of Democracy (1948-1962)
3.2 Under BSBP rule (1962 - 1988)
3.3 Under Military ruling (1988 - Up to now)
4. Socio-Economic Poverty and Land Ownership
5. Summary of Findings
6. Analysis of Findings
7. Militarization and land confiscation
8. No rights to a fair Market price and food sovereignty

...This briefer focuses on the impacts of two of Burma’s largest energy projects, led
by Chinese, South Korean, and Indian multinational corporations in partnership with the
state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Burmese companies, and Burmese
state security forces. The projects are the Shwe Natural Gas Project and the Burma-China
oil transport project, collectively referred to here as the “Burma-China pipelines.” The
pipelines will transport gas from Burma and oil from the Middle East and Africa across

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in September 2011. The villager interviewed Saw Ca---, a 45-year-old rubber, betelnut and durian plantation owner from Kawkareik Township, Dooplaya District, who described the survey of at least 167 acres of productive and established agricultural land belonging to 26 villagers for the expansion of a Tatmadaw camp, transport infrastructure, and the construction of houses for Tatmadaw soldiers' families.

Villagers in northern Pa'an District of central Karen State say their livelihoods are under serious threat due to exploitation by SPDC military authorities and by their Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) allies who rule as an SPDC proxy army in much of the region. Villages in the vicinity of the DKBA headquarters are forced to give much of their time and resources to support the headquarters complex, while villages directly under SPDC control face rape, arbitrary detention and threats to keep them compliant with SPDC demands. The SPDC plans to expand Dta Greh (a.k.a.

Executive Summary:
"A team of Karen researchers from the Karen Environmental and Social Action
Network has undertaken this study to begin documentation of the rich
biodiversity of Khoe Kay, a bend in the Salween River that is part of their
homeland. They also want to document and expose the severe threats faced by this
stretch of the Salween, both from large dams and ongoing militarization.