Parliamentarians on July 11 urged the Union government to return land nabbed from farmers immediately, irrespective of the reason the land was taken, during its seventh regular session.
With the exception of Kayah and Mon State representatives, MPs from all other 12 States and Regions actively took part in pushing for land returns.
“The government needs to have empathy for those farmers who are now downtrodden, and they should resolve the issue with a good conscience and in a fair way,” said Lower House MP Win Myint from Pathein constituency.
Both the government-backed army – the Tatmadaw – and government-backed companies have seized farmlands reportedly since 1990, while charging the lands’ nascent farmers with trespassing in a bid to have them evicted.
Rakine State MP Pe Than called the land nabs “the funniest joke in the world”.
Union Solidarity and Development Party MP, Aung Thein Lin, sitting on the Lower House criticized the Union government for continuing to evade responsibility.
“Most of the lands in our state were grabbed by the army, and then the army let farmers work on the land as sharecroppers while taking ground rent from them,” said Rakhine State MP Khin Saw Wei.
“It was only after the farmers lodged complaints to the Land Inquiry Commission that they stopped the practice.”
The Inquiry Commission for the Grabbing of Farmlands and Other Lands was formed on August 2012 with Upper and Lower House MPs, who subsequently made field visits to each State and Region to investigate land nabs.
The commission’s chairperson, MP Tin Htut, called for a parliamentary motion on July 8 to resolve the grabs as soon as possible, prompting the deliberation on Friday. Tin Htut said during the session on July 8 that it was the commission’s sole responsibility to facilitate the return of the land between the government and farmers.
On July 11, he said: “We will not let ourselves be recorded in history as villains and criminals.”
The commission comprises 60 MPs, making it the largest parliamentary committee.
