Friday, June 17, 2011

More disputes arise over land confiscation


16 June 2011 12:26
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Another dispute has arisen regarding the confiscation of about 800 acres of farmland in Mingalardon Township in Rangoon, which was confiscated by a company owned by an MP who paid the farmers compensation.
Last year, the Zaykabar (Zaygabar) Company, owned by Khin Shwe, a Lower House MP of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), seized the farmland from a total of 71 farmers in Shwenanttha and Paungku villages in Pearl Myothit in Mingalardon Township, and paid the farmers 600,000 kyat per acre. 


Kachin fighting forces farmers to abandon their farms; refugees flee

16 June 2011 15:47 


Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Following seven-days of fierce fighting between Burmese government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), local farmers and refugees are fleeing the area. Many are crossing into China. After seven days of fighting, refugees flee the Kachin State war zone. Many refugees, with estimates as high as 15,000 people, have fled to China. Farmers from areas around Moemauk, Waimaw, Dawphoneyan, Manshi, Laiza and Myitkyina have stopped their normal work on preparing their fields prior to the planting season. The former treasurer of the New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), Muyin Daung Khaung, who lives in Myitkyina, told Mizzima that he saw about 70 farmers leaving the area with their belongings. 




Big step forward for Burmese migrant domestic workers


16 June 2011 19:21 Thea Forbes
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Burmese domestic workers living in Chiang Mai celebrated the International Labour Organization's (ILO) adoption of Convention 189 titled 'Decent Work for Domestic Workers' on Thursday, a press release from the MAP Foundation reported. The MAP Foundation is an NGO that advocates for Burmese workers in Thailand.  
According to MAP, the ILO adopted the convention with 396 votes in favour, 16 against and 63 abstentions. The draft convention will set standards for working and living conditions for domestic workers and guarantee domestic workers the right to collective bargaining.

'If Thailand adjusts its laws to comply with this convention it will make a huge difference to the lives of domestic workers who currently face daily exploitation and abuse at work', said MAP.