“Our Land” Report Press Conferences by PYO

August 13 2018, Taunggyi
On Monday 13 August Pa-O Youth Organization and local community from HisHsen, Hopong, Pin Laung township together held a successful press launch, in Taunggyi Southern Shan State, for our report titled ‘Our Land’. It was an opportunity for media, local community members, youth and CSOs to come together to discuss the findings of the report and ways in which to move forward. The PYO report is about land confiscation in Southern Shan state with research based in Hsihseng, Pinlaung and Hopone Townships, Pa-O Self Administrative Zone. The report is based on interviews with local people about their experiences relating to land grabbing and makes suggestions to relevant stakeholders.

The conference was well attended with 7 different media outlets, and over 80 attendees’ altogether. The day started with an overview of the research objectives and methods, followed by an explanation of PYO and the work that we do. After this, there was a power point presentation explaining the findings of the research. Next, we heard from community members from each township affected by land grabbing who shared powerful and moving stories about their experiences with land issues, and how they are fighting to get their land back. Finally, there was a question and answer session in which it was established that everyone should come together and unite their voices to act.

Our Demands

(1)  Confiscated land should be returned to the original owners of the land. Allocation of new land, and/or financial compensation is not sufficient. Local people should have their land returned to them with a guarantee of tenure security.

(2)  If land cannot be returned to the people, justice should be pursued by granting adequate financial compensation to people impacted by the land confiscation. This compensation should be based on the current land price according to the law.

(3)  From the land rights and peace process discussions, implementation should be based on the federal system.

(4)  Stakeholders, lawmakers, government, politicians, EAOs and investors should respect customary systems.

(5)  People must have the right to ownership and management of land, the right to benefits, the right to free prior informed consent. This should be involved in the peace process discussions and negotiations.

(6)        Moratorium of large development projects until land policy and practice improves.

After the conference, PYO facilitated a productive workshop with local people, farmers and young people, focusing on planning for the next step. Discussions were focused around developing land policy and building the capacity and skills of communities to respond to land confiscation issues.

Overall, it was a positive, productive conference, with community members, and PYO members motivated to build on this research and advocate for their rights.

We would like to thank all participants and the person who helping and supporting for this event happened.