Wagaru village farmer’s appeal for justice falls on deaf ears

January 13, 2016

Thanbyuzayat: Five years ago, a member of a government-linked militia seized a half-acre piece of community land from Nai Kon Ru, a landowner who had for years been working on the land in Wagaru village, Thanbyuzayat Township, Mon State. Like many landowners across the country, he is still struggling to reclaim his land. Nai Kon Ru spoke to HURFOM amid growing frustration over the slow handling of his case and accusations of corruption among local officials handling appeals.

Initially, Nai Kon Ru’s dispossession stemmed from problems over the recognition of customary land practices. In Mon tradition nearby communally owned pieces of land are often incorporated into farmers’ plots, and are considered to belong to the cultivator even in the absence of an official land title registering that land in their name.

However, according to Nai Kon Ru, these customary practices were ignored by a militia member known as Nai Than Jae, who seized Nai Kon Ru’s piece of community land as his own, despite the fact that Nai Kon Ru had cultivated the land for years.

Allegedly, Nai Than Jae also seized communally owned land from other farmers in the area. However, today Nai Kon Ru remains the only farmer whose land has not yet been returned to him.

Nai Kon Ru explained his frustration at Nai Than Jae’s actions, yet indicated that Nai Than Jae was protected from punishment due to his close ties to local administration figures.

Nai Kon Ru stated, “We cannot tolerate how he just came and took land in our community. He acted like a second village head. We still cannot complain about it because he is close to the village head […] Villagers here all agree that this land should belong to us and should be for us. We all work on pieces of [community] land that are near to us. But he just came and took advantage of us”.

Nai Kon Ru reports that he has to date experienced little success in his appeals for justice, and suspects that Nai Than Jae’s close connections to government figures are to blame for the poor handling of his case.

Speaking to HURFOM, Nai Kon Ru said, “It has been five years now since they came to seize and work on our land. Each year we have fought to reclaim our land, but we have not succeeded because of Nai Than Jae’s close relationship with our village head. Moulmein District [officials] told us to share the land. Our village head also told us to share the land […] We know that we will get nothing, even if we go to report this in Thanbyuzayat, because he [Nai Than Jae] has close relationships everywhere”.

Nai Kon Ru expressed disappointment at a general lack of outward support from other local farmers, saying, “The other farmers just stay neutral because their land was not taken. But they agree that the land should belong to us”.

However, one local farmer, Nai Khaung Chon, spoke out in Nai Kon Ru’s defense, detailing that he had experienced similar problems, “The piece of [community] land is Nai Kon Ru’s farmland and it should belong to him. They tried to take some of my [community] land […] But they returned my land after they failed to seize it. Only Nai Kon Ru’s land has not been returned”.

Nai Khaung Chon concluded, “He [Nai Than Jae] didn’t have any land here, so he just came to take some of our land. It is not right at all”.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News