Myanmar at the HLP Crossroads: - Displacement Solutions

1Myanmar at the HLP Crossroads1 Introduction (1)By virtually any measure, the political changes sweeping through Myanmar are nothing short of dramatic. Thoughthe permanence and depth of these forward-looking reforms remains to be seen, as of late-2012 and as the abovequotes make clear, it appears that the possibilities of structural political change and respect for human rights withinthe country are far greater now than they have been for decades. Housing, land and property (HLP) rights areamong the most fundamental human rights concerns in any society, and the new Government’s approach to thesesectors will have a profound influence on the eventual success of the overall reform process (See Box 1).Photo byAndrew Scherer/ DisplacementSolutionsTo properly appreciate just how extensive the HLP challenges facing the Government are, the situation needsto be analysed within the historical context of a vast array of HLP shortcomings that emerged during previousregimes, both in terms of law and practice. Most of these remain in place today and are now the responsibilityof the Government to address and resolve. Continuing HLP challenges include a vast array of shortcomings:widespread landlessness in rural areas; large-scale land grabbing and land concessions which often result indisplacement without either due process or compensation; almost universal tenure insecurity in both rural andurban areas and concomitant inadequate housing and living conditions; the inability of much of the population toaccess clean drinking water, sanitation options and reliable sources of energy; a dysfunctional, often arbitrary andopaque system of land administration and registration; forced evictions due to infrastructure projects and urbangentrification and re-development processes; rising rents in urban areas resulting in economic displacement; topdown,non-participatory and non-transparent HLP decision making; and complete inaction on the special HLPneeds of particularly vulnerable groups (elderly, disabled, children, etc). All of these challenges are exacerbatedby a legacy of top-down, non-participatory and non-transparent HLP decision-making processes and the absenceof adequate legal and judicial remedies for people seeking to enforce their HLP rights.(1) This report was prepared by Scott Leckie (Director, Displacement Solutions, director@displacementsolutions.org) and Andrew Scherer (PlanningLaw Professor, Columbia University and Fmr Director, Legal Services NYC, ascherer@andrewascherer.com). Displacement Solutions isgrateful for the support provided by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of the Government of Switzerland which provided financialbacking for this project. The authors are also grateful to all of those who shared their time and ideas with us, as well as those who were kindenough to provide detailed comments on earlier drafts of the report.