Myanmar: Ex-Ministers, Armed Groups Operate Farms in Kachin’s Conflict Areas

Oct 3, 2017 | Moe Myint, Irrawaddy
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When clashes erupted along the Waingmaw-Laiza highway in 2011 and 2012, villagers fled their homes and farms and have still not returned as the two armies fight over territory. Unbelievably, however, people are profiting from cultivating large-scale plantations on land deserted due to conflict, while those that once worked the land survive in deprivation inside IDP camps. IDPs are unaware of the fate of their land—which many IDPs have cultivated for generations but do not always have official ownership documents—and hope to return at some stage.