Commander: No more selling of land to Wa

By Hseng Khio Fah
Shanland News

According to an order from Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command Commander Brig-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, people in Mongton Township, eastern Shan State, north of the Chiangmai border, are from now on banned from selling their land to the Wa settlers, according to border sources.

Brig-Gen Kyaw Phyoe

On 3 May, Kyaw Phyoe ordered Pongpakhem, a sub-township of Mongton, to inform the local people that no one would be allowed to sell their land to the Wa and that people who fail to abide by the order would be punished and their lands confiscated by the Burma Army.

“Don’t sell your land to the Wa anymore,” a villager quoted one of the land surveyors as saying.

According to Wa authorities, about 80,000 Wa villagers from the Sino-Burma border have been resettled along the Thai-Burma border.

In addition, the commander also assigned officials to measure the area of each person’s house plus compound and order them to apply for title deeds, said another villager.

Pongpakhem Area Commander and land surveyors from Mongton went to Hwe Aw, where the UWSA’s 171st Military Region is headquartered on the same day.

Each household has to pay Kyat 12,000 for the deed. For the Wa, it is Baht 7,000.
There are over 100 households in Hwe Aw, under the control of the Burma Army.

On 16 May, Kyaw Phyoe came to inspect whether the assignment had been accomplished, along with officials from several government departments like Education, Health, Forestry, land-surveys and road engineers in 17 trucks (7 four-wheelers, and 10 six-wheelers), said a source.

“We can’t help you anymore, if the Wa come to take your land. You need to make title deeds to prevent it,” another villager quoted the commander as saying.

The work in Hwe Aw has been completed and officials are reportedly moving to Pongpakhem and other villages to continue their issuing of title deeds, said a source.