Executive Summary:
"In September 2011, as the international community discussed easing sanctions on Burma’s
military-backed civilian government, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) conducted an emergency
investigation in Burma’s Kachin State in response to reports of grave human rights violations
in the region. The aims of the study were
1. to independently investigate reported human rights abuses and war crimes; and
2. to assess the humanitarian situation and nutritional status of internally displaced

In September 2011, residents of Je--- village, Kawkareik Township told KHRG that they feared soldiers under Tatmadaw Border Guard Battalion #1022 and LIBs #355 and #546 would soon complete the confiscation of approximately 500 acres of land in their community in order to develop a large camp for Battalion #1022 and homes for soldiers' families. According to the villagers, the area has already been surveyed and the Je--- village head has informed local plantation and paddy farm owners whose lands are to be confiscated.

• The instability in Kachin State that started in early June 2011 has resulted in the displacement of
populations, loss of livelihoods and damages to infrastructure...
• The recently-completed joint assessment in 39 locations in Kachin State reveals urgent needs in several
sectors, including food, education, shelter, health, NFIs and water and sanitation...
• Access and delivery of assistance remain challenging

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in September 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Pa'an District between June 2011 and August 2011. It details recent Tatmadaw and Tatmadaw Border Guard activity, including camp locations and troop strength, and incidents related to a forced relocation order issued to eight villages in Lu Pleh Township by Tatmadaw Border Guard units on July 15th 2011.

This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in August 2011 by a villager describing events occurring in Papun District in January 2011 and human rights consequences for local communities.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in December 2010 in Te Naw Th’Ri Township, Tenasserim Division by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw T---, a 59-year-old village head who, at the time of interview, was in hiding from Tatmadaw troops in an area of Tenasserim Division beyond government control.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (extract): Poverty alleviation has been recognised by the new government as a strategic priority for human
development. While official figures estimate that a quarter of the nation live in poverty, this survey suggests
that almost two thirds of households in rural areas of South East Burma/Myanmar are unable to meet
their basic needs. Impoverishment is particularly severe in the conflict-affected townships of Kyaukgyi
and Shwegyin in Pegu/Bago Region and Thandaung in Karen/Kayin State. Comparative analysis with

This report contains a situation update submitted to KHRG in April 2011 and written by a villager describing events occurring in Lu Pleh and Dta Greh townships in Pa'an District between February and April 2011. It contains information on incidents of forced labour by the Tatmadaw, including the use of villagers to build huts, deliver palm leaves for thatching buildings and provide unpaid forced labour during gold-mining and logging operations.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in August 2011. The KHRG researcher interviewed Saw K---, a 30-year-old medic with the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), an organisation that provides health care and medical assistance to displaced civilians inside Burma. Saw K--- described witnessing a joint attack by Tatmadaw soldiers from three different battalions on a civilian settlement in Ma No Roh village tract, Te Naw Th'Ri Township, Tenasserim Division in January 2011.

Land questions have invigorated agrarian studies and economic history, with particular emphases on its control, since Marx. Words such as ‘exclusion’, ‘alienation’, ‘expropriation’, ‘dispossession’, and ‘violence’ describe processes that animate land histories and those of resources, property rights, and territories created, extracted, produced, or protected on land. Primitive and on-going forms of accumulation, frontiers, enclosures, territories, grabs, and racializations have all been associated with mechanisms for land control.

This report is in relation to a study on the Land Tenure and Livelihood Issues in the Albertine Graben Region. The study was carried out in three districts of Amuru Buliisa and Hoima. The study specifically focused on tenurial arrangements and land transactions in the region. The ultimate outcome of this study will be drawing of policy issues for policy engagement and dialogue towards a comprehensive policy direction to land governance in the Albertine Graben.

London-based New Forests Company (NFC) would seem to be the design blueprint of how a young modern company should conduct a major land investment in Africa in a responsible way. Oxfam’s investigations reveal that serious allegations by people who were evicted from land to make way for NFC’s operations remain unresolved. How will the company respond?