Land confiscation for artillery regiment
The army is building a military base for Artillery Regiment No. 317 in the area where they forcibly took over 600 acres of rubber and fruit gardens owned by Mon farmers
Ye, Mon State – Local sources reported that the Burmese
Army is confiscating more land near Morkanin village for deploying a new artillery
regiment in southern Mon State.
The army is building a military base for Artillery Regiment No. 317 in the area where they forcibly took over 600 acres of rubber and fruit gardens owned by Mon farmers between Morkanin and Hnitkayin villages.
“Like all previous confiscations, the Burmese army will not pay any form of compensation to the farmers. Without any prior notice, they just came along and took all the land,” said local villagers. “Normally, they only need 300 acres of land, maximum, to deploy a battalion or regiment. They should not confiscate any more than that”, complained a civil servant close to the army. “For this project, the authorities took more land than required for a military base”, he added.
Last year in August, General Maung Bo met with farmers in Mokanin village to inspect a site to build an artillery regiment. Local villagers are ordered by the army to attend meetings without hesitation with army officers and are informed of the proposed sites, the owners of the land are then informed that their farms will be seized for the building of a heavy artillery battalion.
The new Artillery Regiment No. 317 is under the command of Burmese Army, Artillery Division No. 606. The SPDC military regime has targeted to deploy 10 artillery regiments in Mon State and 9 regiments have already deployed in the region according to Independent Mon News Agency’s local reporter.
The Burmese Army confiscated thousand acres of lands belonging to the local civilians in previous years for military purposes. Mon villagers have used this land for generations to sustain a livelihood based on farming vegetables, fruits, rubber and rice. In all confiscation operations, farmers receive no compensation and do not have recourse to any complaint mechanism or other means of redress.
Land confiscation has had a severe impact on many families in Mon State, who have been forced from their farms and with no other means of survival decide to leave to Thailand and other neighbouring countries as migrant labourers. Displaced families who remain in the villages, face hardship and poverty. A source from the Mon community says it also creates a negative impact on the village economy and an increase in crime.
The army is building a military base for Artillery Regiment No. 317 in the area where they forcibly took over 600 acres of rubber and fruit gardens owned by Mon farmers between Morkanin and Hnitkayin villages.
“Like all previous confiscations, the Burmese army will not pay any form of compensation to the farmers. Without any prior notice, they just came along and took all the land,” said local villagers. “Normally, they only need 300 acres of land, maximum, to deploy a battalion or regiment. They should not confiscate any more than that”, complained a civil servant close to the army. “For this project, the authorities took more land than required for a military base”, he added.
Last year in August, General Maung Bo met with farmers in Mokanin village to inspect a site to build an artillery regiment. Local villagers are ordered by the army to attend meetings without hesitation with army officers and are informed of the proposed sites, the owners of the land are then informed that their farms will be seized for the building of a heavy artillery battalion.
The new Artillery Regiment No. 317 is under the command of Burmese Army, Artillery Division No. 606. The SPDC military regime has targeted to deploy 10 artillery regiments in Mon State and 9 regiments have already deployed in the region according to Independent Mon News Agency’s local reporter.
The Burmese Army confiscated thousand acres of lands belonging to the local civilians in previous years for military purposes. Mon villagers have used this land for generations to sustain a livelihood based on farming vegetables, fruits, rubber and rice. In all confiscation operations, farmers receive no compensation and do not have recourse to any complaint mechanism or other means of redress.
Land confiscation has had a severe impact on many families in Mon State, who have been forced from their farms and with no other means of survival decide to leave to Thailand and other neighbouring countries as migrant labourers. Displaced families who remain in the villages, face hardship and poverty. A source from the Mon community says it also creates a negative impact on the village economy and an increase in crime.
