“We also would like to see the release of any continued political prisoners,” Clinton told reporters during a press conference with Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin.

Burma said it freed more than 300 political prisoners in an amnesty in January, a move which prompted the US to pledge it would restore full diplomatic ties.

About 200 others were let out in October 2011, and estimates of the number still behind bars vary.

The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says that more than 900 political prisoners remain locked up in Burma, while the National League for Democracy party estimates their number at about 330.

The minister said most of the people on lists received from the EU and the US have been released but some of those left in prison have committed criminal offenses or are linked to terrorist activities.

But he said President Thein Sein “will further grant amnesties when appropriate.”

Clinton’s remarks came the same day that President Barack Obama eased investment curbs on Burma and named the first US ambassador to the country in more than 20 years, hoping to reward a “nascent” political reform drive.

Clinton also said “the United States is very committed to supporting the end of the ethnic conflicts in the country” as she expressed concern about recent violence in Kachin state.

But she said “I was very pleased to hear about new mechanisms, both official and non-governmental, to encourage meaningful dialogue.”

Conflict between Burma’s army and ethnic rebels in Kachin state has raged for a year, displacing around 50,000 civilians and casting a shadow over hard-won government ceasefires in other parts of the country.

She also discussed concerns of military cooperation between nuclear-armed North Korea and Burma.

“I’m encouraged by reports that President Thein Sein has stated he will end the military relationship with North Korea,” Clinton added.

“And the minister assured me that they will fully comply with international obligations on non proliferation,” she said.

South Korea’s president Lee Myung-Bak this week won a promise from Burma to refrain from military cooperation with North Korea during a two-day trip there that included summit talks with Thein Sein.

Thein Sein denied any nuclear cooperation with Pyongyang, and said his country would abide by UN Security Council resolutions on the North’s nuclear and missile program, a South Korean presidential spokeswoman told AFP. The resolutions also ban weapons exports by the North.

A draft document seen by DVB outlines the aims and methodology of the ‘Norwegian Peace Support Initiative’, for which a pilot programme has already begun in an area of northern Karen state. Over the coming months this will be expanded to other areas of eastern Burma where ceasefires have been agreed.

The aim is to transform them into regions safe for habitation and development by preparing the ground for the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), aiding the opening of liaison offices for ethnic armies, and creating “community development committees”.

While it has been welcomed by many as a sign that Naypyidaw is willing to allow outsiders in to help rebuild the fragile border regions, the proposal has courted controversy, not least because it comes in the wake of Norway’s decision to end cross-border aid. The estimated $66 million earmarked for the project will be channeled through government-approved groups based out of Rangoon, a decision that will test the trust that armed groups have of any body affiliated with Naypyidaw.

Katja Nordgaard, Norway’s ambassador to Burma, told DVB that Oslo was looking for greater transparency in its aid delivery in the wake of governmental reforms, and would be channeling the funds through NGOs and civil society groups that have existed for years. If some of the border aid groups were to set up offices in Rangoon, then they would also be approached.

The initiative would furthermore be “totally based on the [armed groups’] acceptance” of Norway’s proposals, she said, adding that the funds came in the wake of “demand” from the likes of the Karen National Union (KNU).

The team formed to advise and carry through on the initiative has raised some eyebrows. Heading it is Charles Petrie, who served as UN coordinator for Burma until his expulsion in December 2007 following a statement in which he encouraged the then ruling junta to heed the demands of protestors during the September 2007 uprising.

Also included is Ashley South, who in a report last year for the Dutch NGO, Transnational Institute, wrote that the KNU was “in crisis”, having lost territory and lacking a clear political agenda. The KNU’s permission and support are key to the implementation of the project, which will be rolled out across sections of their territory.

Petrie’s notes in the draft report acknowledge South’s potential for controversy, but state that there is a low risk of the baggage that accompanies his presence jeopardising the initiative, “assuming KNU has no problem with Ash role”.

Zipporah Sein, secretary of the KNU, told DVB that the group was fine with the pilot stage, but “we don’t want them to extend it broader at the moment because we have to wait for a political settlement” between the group and the Burmese government. Nordgaard said that Oslo was “waiting for them to say it’s OK”.

The KNU has agreed to a tentative ceasefire with Naypyidaw, although it is wary of pledging to lay down arms too quickly. The Burmese government has pushed for ethnic armies to agree to truces and allow economic development to take place before any sort of political solution to the root causes of the conflicts is made, something that has been met with resistance from the Kachin Independence Army in the north, which continues to fight.

A member of the team working on the Norway initiative said in an email interview that it was “not an alternative to or substitute for a broad political settlement, which will be necessary to achieve real peace in Myanmar [Burma]”. Instead it would “help communities recover from conflict and build momentum for peace on the ground”.

The report also acknowledges the potential the initiative holds to sideline existing small-scale NGOs and civil society groups who have been working in the border regions for years.

“Given that, in many conflict-affected areas, communities and local organisations …  are involved in activities to assist vulnerable populations, there is a risk that international interventions in could [sic] marginalise or distort existing local activities.”

There is also the question of whether the current reformist attitude of the government will last, something acknowledged by Petrie who says that while President Thein Sein and his chief peace broker, Aung Min, “are sincere”, this “does not mean they will be around forever, or able to implement their agenda”.

Indeed, as the case of the Kachin conflict shows, the president has struggled to control frontline troops. One element of the Karen ceasefire is the withdrawal of Burmese soldiers from areas close to KNU territory, but according to Zipporah Sein, this is not happening. The consequences of that intransigence will affect conditions for returning IDPs, which is the main element of the Norway initiative for Karen state.

“Areas where IDPs have to move are where the Burmese army camps are located – many outposts have not been removed. We have to wait and discuss this before [agreeing to their return],” she said.

Accusations that the initiative is being used by Naypyidaw as a bargaining chip with which to persuade armed groups to sign ceasefires have also circulated, as has suspicions concerning Norway’s motives. The Norwegian government, long a supporter of Burma’s pro-democracy movement, was the first country to drop independent sanctions on the country last month, and has spoken of its desire to invest in Burma.

Nordgaard said however that there was “absolutely no interest in the border regions” where Burma holds vast natural resource capabilities. “I’m sure there are Norwegian businesses that want to move into Burma, because [Norway] sees investment as means to create jobs and growth, but this has nothing to [do] with [the peace initiative]”, she said, adding that it would “take a long time” before the likes of Karen state are fit for Norwegian investment.

Norway’s deputy foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, will visit Burma next week and is likely to travel to Karen state. Nordgaard said he would aim to meet with IDPs and assess the current situation with regards to the initiative.

A large crowd was again expected to gather in Mandalay on Monday evening as residents vent their anger at three months of power cuts that have left the city with as little as four hours of electricity a day.

The demonstrations come after Burma’s nominally-civilian government approved a bill allowing authorised peaceful protest, one of a series of reformist moves since the end of army-rule last year.

Under the new law demonstrators are required to seek permission five days in advance in order to hold a protest, or risk one year in jail.

Although the Mandalay protesters, who apparently mobilised online, failed to ask for permission the rally was not broken up by police, residents told AFP.

“Everyone was holding lit candles and walking,” one protester, a local cartoonist known by his pen-name Hercule, told AFP.

“They were not from any political party… there is no leader. The demonstration was started online and expanded as people talked about it on Internet. The authorities did not disturb the demonstration.”

Protests are rare in the authoritarian country formerly known as Burma, where pro-democracy rallies in 1988 and 2007 were brutally crushed by the junta.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has urged the country’s parliament to repeal elements of the protest law that fall short of international standards, such as the threat of imprisonment as a penalty for permit violations.

Mandalay has been blighted by months of electricity shortages, with a gradual reduction in supply to as little as four or five hours a day.

Residents accuse the government of failing to provide electricity to its citizens, while selling power to neighbouring China.

“People wanted to show their dissatisfaction at the selling of electricity to China, although we have don’t have enough inside the country,” said resident Than Htun Naing.

An official, who did not want to be named, said the Electricity Ministry was “very busy with this protest issue”, adding that the deputy electricity minister had arrived in Mandalay to handle the problem.

State media on Sunday blamed ethnic Kachin rebels for destroying a national grid tower in northern Shan state, further disrupting power supplies.

“Today, we discussed how we can work out a plan [where] the government, ethnic organisations and community organisations work together,” said Railway Minister U Aung Min, who led the government’s delegation. “If we work on it together, I’m convinced that we will be able to achieve our goal in a very speedy manner.”

The deal was signed on Saturday at the Triangle Regional Military Command Centre in Kengtung, Shan state. The talks were the first to feature leading members of the Burmese army, including Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win and three regional commanders.

The Restoration Council of Shan State, along with its armed wing the SSA-S, signed an initial ceasefire agreement in January with the government; however, 17 reported firefights erupted between Burmese troops and the rebels in the deal’s wake. The pact had been the first substantial truce between the two sides after almost six decades of fighting in the state.

“I think this is a very significant meeting because the key issue right now – the key obstacle – for the peace talks is the military aspect of it,” said U Harn Yawnghwe, who served as an advisor to the RCSS during the talks.

“Now with the commanders coming they will be able to get the message down to the rank and file [troops].”

After ceremonial handshakes and brief speeches, the RCSS and government delegates held talks behind closed doors for more than nine hours. A large bulk of the time was devoted to negotiating clear demarcation lines between the Burmese commanders and the leaders of the SSA-S to prevent further violence from breaking out in the future.

“In the past, although we had an agreement, but it wasn’t very clear and did not include the participation of senior officials from Burma,” said Chairman of the RCSS Colonel Yawd Serk through a translator at the press conference following the talks.

“Today there was a lot of discussion about that and having the deputy commander-in-chief and the three regional commanders involved in the talks, the SSA-S and RCSS are confident that there will be no more clashes.”

President Thein Sein’s unveiling of two new peace committees earlier this month put greater emphasis on bringing the country’s military into the peace process with the country’s armed ethnic groups; a move that some experts say was fueled by the leader’s inability to rein in Burma’s armed forces.

In December, Thein Sein instructed the military to end their offensive with the Kachin Independence Army in the country’s far north; however, heavy fighting continues between the two sides.

While the Thein Sein may publicly call on the army to follow his decisions, according to the constitution the president is not the country’s commander-in-chief and is unable to give direct orders to the military.

But by bringing the country’s armed forces to the negotiating table, the Tatmadaw will have more of a say in ironing out the details during peace talks, thus allowing them to shoulder the credit when negotiations succeed or fail.

“They’ve been enemies for decades and never actually met face to face in that kind of setting,” said David Mathieson from Human Rights Watch, who sat in on the meetings as an independent observer.

“But to actually meet one-on-one, given the level that it was – it was Yawd Serk the chairman of RCSS and the head of the SSA and the brigade commanders of the SSA and sitting across from them was the deputy commander of the Burmese army and the three regional commanders. That’s never been done before.”

For the SSA-S, the talks also provided the group, whose members have a long, complicated history of being implicated with the state’s drug trade, with a platform to pledge their commitment to eradicating narcotics from the restive region.

“We’re trying to cooperate on drug issues,” said Seng Wan, a major in the SSA-S. “If we have work and jobs for the people to do then you won’t have poppy growers or drug dealers”

While the event was lauded because of the attendants who participated, the talks were also tarnished by the absence of key officials and voices. None of the government’s leading ethnic Shan officials, including Vice President Sai Mauk Khan who many journalists and observers expected to be in Kengtung for the meeting, were in attendance. Neither delegation had female representatives or advisors participating in the mediation.

The talks primary agenda centred around preventing the sides from engaging in further violence, while sketching out a nascent plan to begin developing the area economically. However, the political discussion concerning the amount of autonomy the RCSS will be given in the future remained off the agenda.

“It’s all going to be hard and it’s all going to be incredibly complex,” said Mathieson. “And so, why not tackle some of the least complex and hard stuff now as a way of building up momentum to tackle the hardest ones of all which are political solutions to all of this.”

While the meeting ended with a signed deal, the country’s leading peace negotiator said he was surprised in the level of success that was achieved during the mediation.

“The meeting was more successful than I expected. We managed to discuss issues like the resettlement of the ethnic armies and political and economic issues,” said Minister Aung Min during the press conference. “We plan to have meetings continuously. The more we meet, the more we understand, the faster we’ll achieve peace.”

The presence of foreign journalists and former adversaries walking the halls the of the regional command centre, which was run by President Thein Sein in the late 90s, illustrated how much has changed in Burma in the past year.

After the symbolic handshakes finished and the final signatures were scrawled on the accords, the participants and observers finished the night off with a banquet on the command centre’s grounds. Journalists, Tatmadaw officers and SSA-S soldiers patiently stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a buffet line scooping fried tofu and rice on their plates – an scenario that many in attendance said was unimaginable a year ago.

The evident tension that had pervaded both sides earlier in the day seemed to temporarily wane as glasses of scotch were toasted between the former adversaries and dance troupes performed traditional numbers on the banquet hall’s stage.

“We have this problem because of the distrust that has been going between different ethnic groups,” said Minister Aung Min. “It’s more like solving a family problem. Once we have mutual understanding [then] all the problems will be resolved quite quickly.”

However, the day’s agreement represented small steps in the longer peace process – many more meetings will be needed to end almost six decades of war in Burma’s largest state.

“This is really just a very preliminary step. They’re basically signing agreements to keep talking about things and there’s lots of issues they’re not raising yet,” said Mathieson. “Most importantly, the situation on the ground hasn’t improved at all during this process. The human rights situation is exactly the same.”

The head of the Kachin Independence Organisation’s (KIO) refugee committee told DVB that Chinese officials have for the first time discussed with them the possibility of accepting refugees into their territories.

“We see big changes in this last month,” said Salang Kaba Doi Pyi Sa, head of the IDPs and Refugees Relief Committee (IRRC). “We have now talked about relocating IDPs to a location near Yinjiang [in Yunnan province].”

China has long downplayed the intensity of the Kachin conflict and even outright denied the existence of refugees on their side of the border, currently estimated at 7,000. Until recently, residents regularly witnessed soldiers at the official border gate in the heart of Laiza wielding batons and shields in an apparent display of force to deter unwanted guests.

The shift marks a significant, though tacit, admission that a refugee crisis is looming, as the Burmese army steps up its military assault on Laiza. Mortar fire could be heard through the night on Thursday as rebels fought to take back a Burmese artillery post dug into the hilltops.

“It is the first time we have heard mortar shells firing into the night,” explains a KIO official, who asked not to be named. “They have more troops and better artillery than us.”

According to the KIO, as many as 1,200 new IDPs have arrived in Laiza since late April when the Burmese army seized three key positions in the surrounding mountain range. Fighting now rages less than six miles away from Hotel Laiza, a faded pink building that squares against the Chinese border passage, and forms the headquarters of the KIO.

Aid workers also warn of a growing food and health crisis as the escalating fighting prevents humanitarian convoys from getting through. The UN is currently on standby in Bhamo waiting for permission to pass from the Burmese government. It would be their first convoy to visit Laiza since December last year.

But the route to Bhamo has been cut and the only passageway is through China, which continues to block humanitarian aid from reaching displaced Kachin.

“Even individual [Chinese] donors who want to help can’t do it legally,” explains Layang Naw Ja, an administrator of the 6,000 strong Jeyang camp squeezed between the hilltops and the porous border. “They have to smuggle rice supplies over the border, because it is considered illegal export activity.”

Jeyang camp currently spends ¢3-4 (USD) per person on food each day, amounting to two cups of rice and oil. They lack basic health supplies and share one toilet between over fifty IDPs. As hundreds more flood through the gates, a feverish effort to build new homes before the rainy season has gotten under way with lines of half-finished bamboo huts poking through the hillside.

But fear is constant as the camp is now in immediate reach of Burmese shells. “The reason we are so worried about the IDPs is that if the Burmese army really want to attack Laiza then the mortars can only reach the camps,” said Salang Kaba Doi Pyi Sa.

“The place where we built the camp is supposed to be the safest place, so there are no more options if attacks come through, then they have to cross the border.”

Continuous fighting since April between the Burmese Army and Kachin Independence Army in eastern Kachin state’s Panwa township at the border with China has displaced thousands of locals villagers.

A Christian pastor in Panwa said fighting in the area broke out on 27 April when KIA forces raided and captured the headquarters of a pro-government militia Border Guard Force 1002. The Burmese Army responded with a counter assault.

He said thousands of local villagers fled amid the fighting and were hiding in the jungle alongside the border, while the number of refugees at the relief camps in Waingmaw and Myitkyina townships continues to increase.

“Roughly there are thousands of them but not situated in just Waingmaw and Myitkyina – people in every village are leaving their homes and those close to the border sometimes flee into China,” said the pastor.

He said it is difficult to provide aid to the displaced people as they are scattered across different areas.

Meanwhile, Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State’s chairman and parlimentarian Hkyet Hting Nan said the numbers of refugees at the camps in Waingmaw and Myitkyina had increased from 20,000 to 23,000 during the past two months.

Refugees at the camps are receiving aid from various groups including government bodies, the UN and humanitarian organisations.

According to Hkyet Hting Nan, there is a significant amount of aid for the refugees in the towns’ camps, but it is hard to reach to those displaced inside remotes jungles.

According to estimates published by numerous aid organisations, the fighting between the KIA and government troops has displaced about 75,000 people.

A 17-year ceasefire ended last June when fighting erupted in the Kachin state, after the government demanded that the KIA join a state-run Border Guard Force.

Government negotiators and the KIA have held six rounds of talks, but have yet to reach any agreement. Yesterday’s Burmese state-run newspapers published a report accusing the KIA of targeting civilians in their skirmishes as fighting continues between the two sides. The KIA denied the allegations.

Suu Kyi, who was sworn in May 2 as a member of parliament after spending most of the past two decades under house arrest, spoke via Skype to a rare event in Washington involving former president George W. Bush.

Suu Kyi gave a cautious nod to a call Monday by John McCain, a leading senator of Bush’s Republican Party, for a limited-time freeze on most sanctions on Burma — similar to a recent move by the European Union.

“That is a way of sending a strong message that we will try to help the process of democratization but if this is not maintained, then we will have to think of other ways of making sure that the aspiration of the people of Burma for democracy is respected,” said Suu Kyi.

“I am not against the suspension of sanctions as long as the people of the United States feel that this is the right thing to do at the moment. I do advocate caution, though,” she added.

“I sometimes feel that people are too optimistic about the scene in Burma. You have to remember that the democratization process is not irreversible.”

Repeating one of her frequent themes, Suu Kyi said that reforms would only be considered irreversible once the military — long Burma’s most powerful institution with a history of abuses — firmly committed to changing its ways.

Suu Kyi, the winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, enjoys wide respect across the political spectrum in Washington and her views are considered critical to any US decision to lift decades worth of sanctions on the country.

Since taking office a year ago, President Thein Sein has surprised even many cynics by opening talks with Suu Kyi and ethnic rebels, allowing by-elections swept by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and freeing political prisoners.

But Suu Kyi said that Burma has not freed 271 political prisoners on a list handed by her party to the home ministry.

“There should be no political prisoners in Burma if we are really heading for democratization,” she said.

McCain, in his proposal to suspend sanctions, said Burma needed to do more to end long-running ethnic wars but that President Thein Sein was “sincere about reform.”

US President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration has championed dialogue with Burma since taking over from Bush but has been cautious about a full lifting of sanctions, saying it needs to preserve leverage to encourage change.

US companies have been eager to enter Burma, fearing Asian and European competitors will seize the growing market. The Obama administration plans to allow limited investment but is fine-tuning the rules, as human rights groups push for strict guidelines.

“The US government should not reward the Burmese government’s nascent and untested changes by allowing an unregulated business bonanza,” John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Suu Kyi was speaking at the Washington launch of the Freedom Collection, a project by Bush to bring together lessons from dissidents and reformers.

SSA-S spokesperson Major Sai Lao Hseng said the group’s peace delegation would meet with their government counterparts in the eastern Shan state town of Kengtung on Saturday.

“We are compiling a list of our [SSA-S] officials and soldiers, as well as civilians arrested for alleged connections with us prior to [signing] the ceasefire,” said Sai Lao Hseng.

The talks are part of a tour that parliamentarians from the National Race Affairs Committee and Internal Peace-Making Joint-Committee will be making through ethnic regions stricken by armed-conflict in the coming months.

The committee members will hold talks with representatives in Kachin and Shan state during the interim period before the parliament’s fourth session commences in July.

“Our teams will be meeting with Chief Ministers in the administrative regions and states, as well as, local influential figures and [discuss matters] relating to the armed-groups,” said parliamentarian Sai Maung Tin, who is a member of the joint-committee.

Currently, there are nearly 100 SSA-S affiliates in prison, including more than 30 soldiers from Brigade-246 who were arrested after surrendering to government troops after fighting broke out in northern Shan state’s Namhkam district in 2006.

Civilians that were accused of working as informers and supporters of the group at time were also arrested in Namhkam.

The SSA-S reached a tentative ceasefire with the government in January.

Despite the J agreement, skirmishes have continued to break out between the SSA-S and government troops.

According to the rebel army, there have been 17 clashes with the Burmese Army since signing the ceasefire.

While the government continues to hold peace talk with armed groups, ethnic minority leaders are asking the international community to prudently observe developments within Burma before dropping sanctions.

New Mon State Party general secretary and United Nationalities Federal Council spokesperson Nai Hongsa said the international community should reconsider revoking sanctions placed on Burma if the Burmese Army’s military offensive in Kachin State continues.

“In our perspective, the government is working on the reforms with the aim to gain sympathy and support from the international community, [which would lead] to the lifting of the sanctions,” said Nai Hongsa.

“Some nations have lifted or suspended sanctions without looking at the long-term and we would like to point out that now is not [quite] the time.”

He said one of the reasons the Burmese Army is continuing their military offence in Kachin state was to protect Chinese investments in the region.

“The offensive is to protect foreign investments such as the oil and gas pipelines and hydropower plants that are being constructed,” said Nai Hongsa. “Today, our ethnic nationalities are killing each other to protect foreign interests in our country and we see that’s as a bad sign.”

Several western leaders said earlier in the year that an end to internal conflicts and release of political prisoners would dictate their decisions on sanctions.

However, after the country’s historic by-elections, the EU, Australia, Norway and Switzerland have all dropped or suspended sanctions as fighting continues in Kachin state and more than 400 political prisoners remain locked up in Burma.

-Nang Mya Nadi, Naw Noreen and Ko Htwe contributed reporting

Government’s Information Minister Kyaw Hsan instructed representatives from several independent press associations to nominate six people each from their organisations to participate in the new council.

The minister made the announcement yesterday during a meeting at the state-run Myanmar [Burma] Radio and Television’s headquarters.

He said the council would work to protect media freedom in the country under existing laws and to ensure the press abides by the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law and the 12 press scrutiny policies, which forces publications to submit their articles to censors before being published.

The council’s responsibilities are to protect the interest of the people, the State and sovereignty from being harmed by the press media – similar mandates that were given to state’s censorship board, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division.

The press council has also been asked to provide the government with suggestions regarding issues involving regulations that infringe on the fourth estate’s rights, communication with international press organisations and training to improve media workers within the country.

The Information Department director Ye Tint and Tint Shwe, head of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division, also attended the meeting.

In the past year, Burma’s media environment has enjoyed a relaxation of several of the former junta’s draconian censorship laws. Journals have published controversial interviews and taken on government leaders. However, without a new media law, editors and journalists are still vulnerable to harassment and prosecution.

In April, the Myanmar Post Global was punished and prevented from printing its supplementary pages for two weeks after the publication failed to submit articles to censors before they were printed.

On May 10, a row broke out between the two sides when employees from the Zaykabar company began to bulldoze land in Shwenanthar village. The farmers in the area responded by taking to the fields with two tractors and standing their ground.

The farmers later left the field after Mingalardon township’s authorities mediated the situation. But the Zaykabar bulldozers later demolished embankments built by the farmers, said local resident Kyaw Hsein, who claims to have lost 50 acres of land during the episode.

“Yesterday, the township authorities told both the farmers and the Zaykabar workers to stand down. But the company continued to demolish the land after the authorities left,” said Kyaw Hsein during an interview with DVB.

“Yesterday, we were preparing to plough the land and were stopped by township authorities,” said chairman of the Peace and Diversity Party Nay Myo Wei.

“We informed the authorities and they went to the[field] and stopped them,” said Nay Myo Wei. “But then, the [company’s bulldozers] continued to destroy the embankments after the authorities left.”

Zaykabar Company was implicated in a similar event in February this year.

Win Cho, an independent politician in Dala township near Rangoon, is providing legal assistance to farmers in Hlaingtharyar township who claim that their land destroyed by the company. The famers lost about 600 acres of their land after the Zaykabar Company cleared the area for an industrial zone.

“While the farmers and the public are abiding by the existing laws [that aim] to maintain tranquility in the country, [Zaykabar] is instigating unnecessary confrontations – we feel as if they were testing our patience and insulting our rights,” said Win Cho.

He said he is preparing to file a report concerning the case that will be sent to top government leaders.

Last year, Zaykabar appropriated 800 acres of land from locals in Hlaingtharyar township to make way for an industrial project. The company offered farmers 300,000 Kyat in compensation per acre.

After receiving several complaints from the farmers, state authorities told the company to suspend their projects, but the orders were ignored.

The issue of land rights in Burma is a sensitive one: existing laws do little to prevent confiscation by government-aligned figures, and that looks set to continue if a bill currently being debated in parliament comes into force. The Land Act will effectively allow powerful tycoons to monopolise arable land and force off small-scale farmers.

Currently, most farmers are ostensibly tenants on their land, and are forced to share a portion of revenue with the government. Since the scandal arose, the Shwenanthar village farmers have lost their tenant status.

Burma’s agriculture sector provides income for roughly 70 percent of the country, but its productivity remains handicapped by poor infrastructure, equipment and a lack of governmental planning.

Nay Myo Wei acknowledged that the farmers face an uphill task in taking an MP, who was closely aligned with the former ruling junta, to court, but would press ahead nonetheless.