The challenge of democratic and inclusive land policymaking in Myanmar - A response to the draft national land use policy

In October 2014 the Myanmar government unveiled a draft National Land Use Policy (NLUP) and announced it would take public comments for a limited time before finalizing the document. Once it is finalized, the new policy will determine the distribution, use and management of the country’s land and related natural resources like forests and rivers, for years to come.

It promises to make profound changes to the current land-related economic, social, and political-institutional landscape. This is an important – and bold – step for Myanmar, with its complex history of political and armed conflict and protracted displaced populations. More so because land policymaking also tends to involve simplification – that is, putting aside real-life facts and phenomena that have the potential to derail formal-legal standardization agendas.

Some simplification is unavoidable. But policies that too narrowly follow overly neat categories of land use will be unable to detect, adapt to or address many of the most significant and “messy” details of actual land based social relations. These are often the very facts that need to be understood and taken into consideration in the first place. So the big question at the heart of the NLUP process is: whose details are going to count? This briefing examines this question with a particular emphasis on an ethnic minority perspective.

An inclusive land use policy-making process that allows for - and encourages - full and meaningful participation for all rural working people is essential for ensuring a policy outcome that is widely and effectively accepted by society.

It is a significant and welcome development that the public is invited to submit comments and recommendations. If the government is to make this step matter, then it must follow through. It must ensure that the issues, concerns, and aspirations expressed by those whose lives and livelihoods are most affected or threatened by forced eviction and dislocation, land confiscations and large-scale land deals, leave a substantial imprint on the policy that finally gets adopted.

The English version of the draft NLUP (as uploaded onto the government website) is positive in some ways and includes several key provisions that would improve Myanmar’s current land governance arrangements. But it still needs improvement especially in terms of some fundamental principles in order to be better positioned to address these key and urgent land policy challenges.