MYANMAR PARKS COULD STOP THOUSANDS OF KAREN REFUGEES RETURNING HOME
Plans to protect swathes of
mountainous jungle in Myanmar could prevent refugees from returning and uproot
16,000 people living within the proposed boundaries of two parks, campaigners
said.
The parks, totaling
1.3 million acres (5,260 square km), could threaten livelihoods in 55
indigenous villages in the Tanintharyi Region, according to a report by the
Conservation Alliance of Tanawthari (CAT), an advocacy group.
It said the
proposals - which have been demarcated after being proposed in 2002 - should be
halted until refugees’ right of return was guaranteed.
“Indigenous
communities must be properly consulted ... and must be able to lead and
actively participate in the planning and implementation of conservation
activities,” the report said.
A Myanmar official
said those fears were unfounded and the rights of any people living in the
area, including returning refugees, would be protected.
“We need to
negotiate with local communities to get the approval from those who live inside
the park area,” said Win Naing Tha, director of the forests department, by
phone.
The Karen NationalUnion (KNU), an ethnic armed group, signed a ceasefire agreement with the
government in 2012 after 62 years of conflict, which led some refugees to
return home - although ethnic armed groups continue to fight in other areas.
About 100,000
refugees remain in camps across the border in Thailand, according to the United
Nations refugee agency, while others sheltered within Myanmar after fleeing
their homes.
The CAT said plans
for Tanintharyi National Park and nearby Lenya National Park pose a threat to
people who traditionally lived within the proposed boundaries.
Those fears are
partly based on the impact of another protected area in the region - the
Tanintharyi Nature Reserve Project, which was established in 2005.
When residents of
Kye Zu Daw village returned to homes they had fled during the war, said the
CAT, they found their land had been split between the reserve and a palm oil
plantation.
The CAT said
villagers were no longer able make a living by farming the narrow strip of land
that was left, with efforts to cultivate areas on either side resulting in
court cases.
“If we go into our
forest, the government will sue us. If we go into the lower part of the
village, the company will sue us,” Saw Chit Wey Htoo, a villager, was quoted as
telling CAT.
Frank Momberg of the
British conservation group Flora & Fauna International said his
organization backed away from promoting the proposed parks three years ago,
after consulting local organizations and the KNU.
SOURCE: REUTERS
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