Myanmar at the HLP Crossroads: - Displacement Solutions

Myanmar at the HLP Crossroads 20The Summit would create a venue for identifying national HLP priorities, new policies and legislation needed toprotect HLP rights. It would provide a very powerful statement to the nation, as well as to the world, that theGovernment recognises that an all-inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach to developing HLP policy and law will farbetter serve society than the top-down, non-transparent polices which have traditionally dominated law-making inthe country. Such a process would facilitate the full and genuine consultation and participation of civil societyand create a common platform for determining a shared vision of Myanmar’s HLP future. The HLP Summit wouldprovide a forum where efforts could be made to begin to find an equitable balance between the need for economicgrowth and the HLP rights of the significant section of society that now lives without these rights being meet. Itwould provide a neutral forum for all societal sectors to debate and discuss openly the dramatic changes takingplace in Myanmar, and to find a mutually satisfactory way to move forward on the complex HLP front.To have effect, the HLP Summit should conclude with the approval of a statement of priniciples of guide nationalpolicy- and law-making on HLP issues. The Summit should also establish a consultative body comprised of bothGovernment and civil society that would be entrusted with formulating specific recommendations for futrue effortsin these sectors. The body should be democratic in nature, represent the broad spectrum of interests in society andprovide a coordinated means of overseeing HLP decision-making.5.2 RECOMMENDATION 2:INITIATE PROCESSES LEADING TO A NEW NATIONAL HLP LAWThe HLP legal code of Myanmar is extensive, complex and largely inadequate as a means of addressing theimmense HLP challenges facing the nation. The scores of laws which together form this framework either date fromcolonial times or were adopted without public input during periods of military rule. Viewed in its entirety, the currentHLP legal framework will not be a sufficient means of securing HLP rights for the entire population. Major legislativechanges will be required if the broader reforms are to successfully protect HLP rights. While considerable attentionhas been paid by the media, civil society and the Government to the two new land laws of March 2012, it is clearthat far more significant HLP legislative reform is required if everyone within the country is to have access to theHLP rights promised to them by the international human rights regime.A comprehensive forward-thinking National Housing, Land and Property Law should be drafted and adoptedthat assures HLP rights, encourages sustainable economic development, and places Myanmar in the global forefronton HLP rights. As Myanmar moves toward a stable democratic society and opens up to local and internationaldevelopment, it has a unique opportunity to forge its own path toward a system that guarantees HLP rights andwhich reflects and preserves its rich cultural heritage. The patchwork of HLP laws that now exist do not adequatelyserve to protect Myanmar’s people from land grabbing, forced displacement and other HLP violations. Nor does thecurrent legal framework protect the nation from the kind of furiously-paced and chaotic development that can leadto costly and painful environmental degradation and cultural submission with long term consequences for the wellbeingof the nation and its people.It is recommended, therefore, that to avert an HLP disaster and to protect its cultural identity, Myanmar embarkon a concerted and deliberative effort to forge its own path toward securing HLP rights for everyone. A newHLP law would, at a minimum, ensure universal security of tenure rights because at present neither rural norurban dwellers have sufficient protections under current law against arbitrary eviction and displacement. A newHLP law would accord enforceable security of tenure rights to all dwellers, which, once in place will lead to a fargreater level of rights protection for citizens, less land grabbing, empowerment of farmers and slum dwellers sothat they are at last treated as rights holders, and increased provision of credit for the purposes of HLP investmentat the household level.Given the choice between a piecemeal approach to HLP law reforms and more comprehensive measures, the latterapproach is clearly preferable. Analysing, repealing, amending, supplementing and perhaps in some cases re-issuingthe laws now comprising the Myanmar HLP Legal Code would be immensely time-consuming. Moreover, it wouldbe unlikely to yield the systemic changes required in a modern and soon to be rapidly developing country. Rather,a series of new laws, commencing with a new HLP Law are needed to provide the legal framework required toprovide clarity on HLP matters and to address a wide range of shortcomings within the current HLP legal frame-