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Villagers say their farmland was unlawfully taken from them by a military-backed mining venture...More than 10,000 villagers in northwestern Burma demonstrated Wednesday, burning effigies and demanding the return of land they said was illegally confiscated by a mining company in a rare mass protest.
They marched from the site of the Monywa copper mine, located in the Latpadaung mountain range in Saigang division’s Sarlingyi township, but were stopped by more than 200 government security personnel and company officials, said one female villager.
"The police circled around us. They blocked the path to Pathein-Monywa highway so that we couldn't cross the road,” said the villager, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, and who said that the protesters had marched for about one mile before they were blocked by authorities...
