Junta demolishes 30 houses in 2 Rakhine townships

Narinjara News, 1 October 2022

Over 20 houses in Thandwe township and 10 in Sittwe locality were demolished by the junta authority with the accusation of squatting military owned lands.

The houses at Jaithaw village in the southern district town of Thandwe were demolished on Wednesday asserting that those were built in the navy land.

Similarly, the houses at block 10 of Mingan ward in Sittwe township were partially demolished on Tuesday, stating that those were occupying the army land.

“But the authority did not inform the residents in advance. They were asked to demolish their houses suddenly. The army officers threatened that if the residents do not listen to the authorities, they will face consequences. They also can not demand compensation from the authorities.

The residents were evicted even though it is the rainy season now.
Their houses were demolished by the bulldozers in presence of navy, army, police and other government personnel. The eviction drive at Jaithaw village began from the morning of 28 September.

"The junta authority revealed that it was planning some constructions in the evicted lands. Since the month of August, the authority has been pressuring the residents to vacate their places,” said a resident of Jaithaw village, while talking to Narinjara News.

He however asserted that the entire village is not in the navy owned lands. The military council has not revealed anything about the project to be set up in those areas.
"Instead of negotiating with us in advance, the authority has demolished our houses. Now we have no place to live,” he stated.
Most of the villagers are associated with the fishing industry. The new place, where they are forced to move, is far from the locality and it will create problems for their livelihood and also education for their children.

On September 27, at least 10 houses in Mingang Ward in Sittwe were demolished by the Military authority claiming the houses are built in army owned lands.

All the occupants alleged that they were not informed by the authority in advance. The authority was not ready to pay any compensation to the settlers. The residents  claimed that they have been living there for more than 10 years.
After the land was  confiscated  by the 232 battalion located at the entrance of the army gate for maintenance of weapons and military equipment, the residents were forced to take shelter in their

relatives of friends’ houses. They lamented that the authority should have given them some lands in Sittwe, otherwise they would never be able to own a plot of land in their lifetime.