Incidents of land confiscation in Eastern Myanmar have increased by over 50 percent in the last year, according to a report from the Karen Human Right's
Group published on March 4.

The report, Losing Ground: Land Conflicts and Collective Action in Eastern Myanmar, comprises 99 documents related to natural resource extraction and
development projects collected by the KHRG throughout 2012.

The documents detail numerous incidents of forced resettlement due to development, development projects without local support and environmental damage caused by large-scale development projects.

“These projects included hydro-power dams, infrastructure development, logging, mining, and commercial plantation agriculture that were undertaken or
facilitated by various civil and military state authorities, foreign and domestic companies and armed ethnic groups,” the report says.

Armed groups such as the Tatmadaw and the Karen National Union are cited for being particularly abusive in their treatment of local landowners. The report quotes a farmer from Bu Tho Township in Pagan, Kayin state, who recalls the Tatmadaw confiscating his neighbour’s land and then offering to sell it back to him for 5000 kyats per field.

The report highlights Myanmar's ongoing problem with laws concerning the ownership and sale of land. Though the parliament's farmland bill, first passed in 2011, gives farmers the right to register their land ownership with the state and federal government, activists and farmers agree the law is routinely ignored by the country's various armed groups seeking profit.

Though the best way to strengthen the law continues to be debated in parliament, “[The Tatmadaw] is not involved, they're not even there. In terms of engagement, we don't know what the military thinks,” said Tobias Jackson, and advisor for the Yangon-based Land Core Group.

He added that applying “visible, mobilized community pressure” is the best and perhaps only means small communities have for protecting their land. “Hopefully that brings pressure on the Tatmadaw.”

Community action against land grabs has increased in the last year, the report says, with many villages organising committees dedicated to halting or examining new land projects. “KHRG's 2012 documentation displayed a sharp increase in committee formation, with 20 [committees formed] in 2012, compared with three in 2011.”

The report concludes that land reform is needed for the continued development of Myanmar. “The ultimate aim of any land-governance reforms should be to protect the property rights of people in Myanmar, while providing an environment that allows for sustainable economic development for their benefit,” the report says.

Jackson agreed with their assessment: “The key requirement for a national and inclusive discussion on land use...is to decide what direction to take and how to balance the need for energy and jobs with the need for transparency.”

The report defines 'land confiscation' as land being taken from local communities without any kind of compensation. It is just one of several issues the KHRG identifies as being endemic to the current wave of large scale development in rural Myanmar, which include environmental damages, lack of accountability in the part of the builders, and compensation that is unclear or unfair to the villagers.