Myanmar: Myanmar Court Convicts Farmers of Trespass in 'Blow' to Land Rights

May 7, 2018 | Rina Chandran, Reuters
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A Myanmar court has found 33 farmers living next to a Special Economic Zone guilty of criminal trespass, a ruling seen by activists as a blow to land rights in a country with a rising demand for property for industrial use. The farmers said the government did not follow the legal process when it tried to acquire their land adjacent to the Thilawa SEZ in 1996, and that they continued to farm the land and pay taxes on it.