The new wave of land deals is not the new investment in
agriculture that millions had been waiting for. The poorest people
are being hardest hit as competition for land intensifies. Oxfam’s
research has revealed that residents regularly lose out to local
elites and domestic or foreign investors because they lack the
power to claim their rights effectively and to defend and advance
their interests. Companies and governments must take urgent
steps to improve land rights outcomes for people living in poverty.

It is estimated that the overall number of Burmese migrants in Thailand is somewhere in between 800,000 and one million.
Cross-border migration into Thailand has steadily increased in recent years. Since the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Thais
have gone to work abroad. Refugees from Burma, Laos and Cambodia have since filled this labour shortage in Thailand.
However, many of them are undocumented, illegal workers and thus constitute the most vulnerable section of the work force.

Testimony of Marco Simons to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission:
"This submission describes the emerging landscape as U.S. businesses reengage in Burma and
identifies specific human rights concerns associated with current and prospective corporate
activities in Burma (Myanmar). A number of companies, including General Electric, have
already invested in Burma, and U.S. oil supermajors are considering participation in upcoming
auctions for oil blocks. Increased foreign investment has already been linked to large-scale

This note is meant to serve as a quick reference for local authorities and NGOs to
acquire an understanding of relevant land laws and the context of land-use in
Myanmar. All land and all natural resources in Myanmar, above and below the ground,
above and beneath the water, and in the atmosphere is ultimately owned by the Union of
Myanmar. Although the socialist economic system was abolished in 1988, the existing Land
Law and Directions were not changed in parallel, and thus these are still in use today in

Myanmar's natural resources include gems, industrial minerals, oil, and offshore natural gas reserves estimated at 10 trillion cubic feet. The extractive sector accounted for 39 percent of exports in 2010, yet despite its mineral wealth, Myanmar is one of the least developed nations in the world. Its extractive industries are infamously opaque. In the April 2012 elections, the main opposition party won seats in the parliament, a development that could lead to improved transparency...

Preliminary:
1. Objectives...
2. Nature and scope.....
General matters:
3. Guiding principles of responsible tenure governance...
3A General principles...
3B Principles of implementation...
4. Rights and responsibilities related to tenure...
5. Policy, legal and organizational frameworks related to tenure...
6. Delivery of services.....
Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties:
7. Safeguards...

In the face of continuing grave violations of human rights
by the Burmese government against its own civilians, it is
imperative that the international community start to
respond to Burma in terms of the Responsibility to Protect
(R2P) principle...

Burma is situated in Southeastern Asia, bordering Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. The
majority of its population lives in rural areas and depends on land as a primary means of livelihood.
Because all land in Burma ultimately belongs to the state, citizens and organizations depend upon use
-
rights, but do not own land.
Burma’s laws grant women equal rights i
n some respects and also recognize certain customary laws that
provide women equal rights in relation to land. In practice, however, the rights of many women are

This report, authored by leading land experts, is the culmination of a three-year research project that brought together forty members and partners of ILC to examine the characteristics, drivers and impacts and trends of rapidly increasing commercial pressures on land.

The report strongly urges models of investment that do not involve large-scale land acquisitions, but rather work together with local land users, respecting their land rights and the ability of small-scale farmers themselves to play a key role in investing to meet the food and resource demands of the future.

Most Burmese people fleeing their homes do so for a combination of reasons. The root causes for leaving, however,
determine which ‘category’ they belong to: ‘internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) or ‘economic migrants’. There is
some discussion as to whether people leaving their homes due to exhaustion of livelihoods options are IDPs
according to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement1 – or not. Ashley South and Andrew Bosson present
their views below...

Provisional English title.