Myanmar activist in court as land crackdown deepens, rights groups say

4 September 2015

Thomson Reuters Foundation - A prominent farmers' activist in Myanmar appeared in court on Friday in what watchdog organisations say is part of an escalating crackdown on land rights campaigners.

While powerful businessmen and military officials are responsible for most of the displacement, foreign investors from China, Thailand, Japan, India and South Korea often benefit from land grabs, using the territory as a base for infrastructure projects, manufacturing, plantations or mining, Mathieson said.

One example is in Tanintharyi region in Myanmar's south, where palm oil plantations are expanding, said Jennifer Franco, a researcher with the Transnational Institute thinktank.

"At least in the initial phase, it's less about deals with foreign companies and more about deals with domestic elites," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

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Land and Water Grabbing