Farmers in Burma denied justice over land grabs

THE government of Aung San Suu Kyi has failed to deliver justice for farmers in Burma whose land was confiscated by the army, forcing them into extreme poverty, a new report has claimed.

The report – Nothing for our Land – released by Human Rights Watch yesterday, reveals how farms have been allegedly snatched since the Nineties by the military.

Official statistics confirm that the government, under military rule, has taken over hundreds of thousands of acres, but activists believe that in reality millions of acres were seized.

Close to 40 farmers described in interviews how the loss of their livelihoods deprived their families of food, healthcare and forced their children to skip school and go out to work. Attempts to obtain redress reportedly often ends in arrest and in some cases jail.

Adding to their acute sense of loss is disappointment in Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) which made justice for farmers a central election pledge in 2015.

Despite some limited successes through a new investigative body and the reform of critical laws, many farmers are still said to be waiting for help.

Some who have protested after waiting for years for compensation have been prosecuted, sometimes for trespassing on the land they claim, and endured lengthy, expensive trials.

“Fixing the land seizures problem and ensuring justice for farmers was a core part of the NLD’S election manifesto, but their reform efforts have fallen far short of what is required,” Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told The Daily Telegraph.