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Land tax controversy between Ye residents and military battalion

HURFOM: An annual land tax has caused a dispute between residents from Ye Township’s Tu Myaung village and a Burmese military battalion. In previous years the tax was paid by Tu Myaung residents in exchange for permission to work on land confiscated from them in 2001. However, this year residents took a stand against military authorities and refused to hand over payments.

In 2001, 430 acres of land were confiscated from 39 Tu Myaung villagers by Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 586. Each subsequent year these same residents were asked to pay a tax for permission to work on plantations they previously owned. With recent political reform in the country and reports of property ownership being restored in other areas, villagers hoped that this year their land would be returned. However, on May 14 it became clear that this would not be the case. Residents of Tu Myaung were once again called on by the LIB No. 586 quartermaster Capt. Kyaw Htin Oo to submit their annual land payment to the military.

A dispute with LIB No. 586 began when residents refused to pay the tax, instead lodging an appeal with the government’s Land Investigation Commission and the Military Defence Administration in Ye Township. While the tax remains unpaid, to this date no investigation has been initiated by these authorities.

“My 10-acre rubber plantation was confiscated in 2001,” said one Tu Myaung resident. “They [LIB No. 586] did not want us to use the land as we wanted. We were asked to pay each year if we worked on our land. The situation between victims and the [military] authorities is still complicated”.

According to land confiscation records collected by HURFOM since 2001, at least 600 acres of rubber plantations and orchards located near Tu Myaung and Kyon Paw villages were arbitrarily seized by the Light Infantry Battalion No. 586, operating under the Military Operations Management Command (MOMC) No.19 based in Ye Town of Mon State.

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