MNHRC urges inquiry into violent eviction of squatters
The call from the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission comes after squatters say their settlement was destroyed by thugs hired by local authorities in a village in Mon State.
The call from the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission comes after squatters say their settlement was destroyed by thugs hired by local authorities in a village in Mon State.
Days before democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi led her lawmakers into parliament as Burma’s government-in-waiting, Ei Than watched bulldozers sent by the military destroy her house in a slum on the outskirts of Rangoon.
Burma’s national rights watchdog noted this week the destruction of over squatter’s 500 homes in the Mingalardon Pyin Ma Pin Industrial Zone and Yuzana Garden City areas of Rangoon, which left close to 1000 homeless.
Squatters who built homes in the Bagan archaeological zone have been issued a deadline to vacate the area.
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Lead Story News Rangoon Society
“He denied police made use of vigilantes, but added that evictions were often carried out following requests by companies seeking to develop the areas.”
Police have arrested and charged around two dozen people for squatting in a protected forest in Karen State.
Some 200 residents of the Rangoon satellite town of Dala were evicted on New Year’s Eve from the homes they had lived in for more than 30 years.
Settlers have returned to the Irrawaddy River-bank after local authorities evicted over 400 families before King Harald and Queen Sonya of Norway sailed the Mandalay stretch of the river.
Rangoon Mayor Hla Myint says there are some 38,000 squatter homes within the city boundaries these days – and most belong to economic migrants from the country and other towns in Burma.
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Sympathisers from across Burma have been flocking to the Aung Theikdi Buddhist monastery in Pegu Division since news spread that 144 families were sheltering there after their homes were bulldozed and demolished.
Sympathisers from across Burma have been flocking to the Aung Theikdi Buddhist monastery in Pegu Division since news spread that 144 families were sheltering there after their homes were bulldozed and demolished.
Lead Story News Property Video
Up to 80,000 people living in a shantytown in Rangoon’s Dagon Seikkan Township have been declared illegal squatters and are now facing eviction.
Lead Story News Property Video
Squatters in Hlaing Tharyar township in Rangoon are rebuilding their huts alongside the Shwe Lin Pan Industrial Zone. They were previously evicted from the site by the municipal department, but they haven’t been able to find anywhere else to live.
One policeman was injured and at least five people were arrested in clashes on Monday as authorities in Rangoon demolished a shanty town to clear the land for development.
According to the MJA, the documentary about squatters in Rangoon was chosen for its “thought-provoking presentation” of issues that are all too often hidden from or forgotten by the general public.
Farmers Land Lead Story News Shan
Farmers locked in a land dispute with Burma’s armed forces pledged to renew their fight after being released from jail on Friday, in a case testing leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s resolve to challenge the military’s economic interests.
Many among Rangoon’s urban poor are being forced to rely on high-interest loans to survive, a new report by Save the Children has found.
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A group of people living in a squatter community in Hlegu Township, on the outskirts of Rangoon, say they have been ordered to leave the area by next month.
Watch DVB’s top stories with Kimberley Phillips
Interview Lead Story News Politics
Nay Phone Latt, a well-known blogger and new NLD MP for the Rangoon Division parliament, discusses what the city should prioritise under the new government.
Feature Features (OLD) Lead Story News
Burma’s cities are attracting an increasing number of rural poor, but efforts to provide them with affordable housing are falling short.
Watch today’s top stories with Angus Watson
Watch today’s top stories with Angus Watson
Police opened fire on suspects in Shwepyitha Township, Rangoon during a raid on the hideout of two high-profile criminals exposed by a social media post.
Feature Lead Story Mandalay Division News Travel & Tourism
Heading to Mandalay? Tour the city with DVB’s street-by-street guide to discover the good, the bad and the ugly in this Burmese city.
2015 Elections Lead Story News Politics
“Some people are surprised our party has survived,” says National Unity Party candidate Phyu Phyu Nyunt.
2015 Elections Lead Story News Politics
Apathetic locals are concerning youth activists, who have taken to the streets to encourage people to check voter lists and cast their ballots in November.
Watch today’s top stories with Angus Watson.