Three Pagoda Pass authorities force families to relocate without compensation

April 8, 2008

LAWI WENG, HURFOM :

Two families have been ordered to relocate their homes in Jao-Ha-Plu Village, near Three Pagoda Pass on the Thai-Burma border.

The order came on April 4th, and the families have until the end of the month to move.

The two houses, which belong to Nai A-Pain and Nai Balai, are located in front of the Jao-Ha-Plu primary school.

“The authority claimed that the houses make noise which disturbs the school. They say that the front of the school should be clean and there should be enough space for school,” said a person in Jao-Ha-Plu Village.

A Mon human rights worker, however, contested the reasoning offered by the SPDC authorities. Neither house is terribly close to the school, he pointed out, nor is either family is particularly loud.

Both families have lived on their properties for over a decade, and the houses are valued at thirty thousand and one hundred thousand Thai baht. Neither family will be compensated, nor will they be provided new land to live on.

In addition to losing their land, the families will lose their gardens and the wood used to build the homes. The cost of buying new land, wood and other items to replace the lost homesteads will nearly be prohibitive for both families.

Neither family has been linked to politics or accused by the regime of any crime; both are simply farm workers.

According to another Mon human rights worker, the Three Pagoda Pass authorities have, in the past, confiscated land without compensation only to resell it at a one hundred percent profit. It is unclear, however, whether the land confiscated in this case will be sold.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News