Daily Video
July 18, 2013Myanmar Farmers at Risk from Government Land Seizures
Watch In Race to Develop Myanmar, Government Grabs Farmland on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
In the Asian country of Myanmar, also known as Burma, farmers are facing the destruction of their family’s homeland as the government enters into numerous development contracts with large corporations in the race to develop the impoverished country. Farmlands that have been owned and farmed for generations will soon be high-tech food and textile factories.
Part of the problem is that most Myanmar farmers do not own the deed to their inherited lands. This was never a problem until the late 1980s when a repressive dictatorships took farmlands for military use and to give to the elite. Landowners were offered little, if any, compensation for their farms, and often faced jail time for refusing to leave.
While the development of the farmland in Myanmar may mean lots of jobs and a surge of trade revenue, it is the farmers who will pay the biggest price. Roughly 70 percent of the population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods. The risk of insecurity from unresolved land issues is high.
Quote:
“Powerful government leaders, their children and relatives, together with their business cronies, lawlessly confiscated a great deal of agricultural land for their own interests.” – Maung Maung Win
Warm-Up Questions:
1. Where is Myanmar?
2. If a person relies on agriculture for their livelihood, what might they grow for their job?
3. How is a dictatorship different from a democratic government?
Discussion Questions:
1. Why do people need proof of ownership of their home?
2. If farmers do not have legal proof that the land belongs to them, do they have the right to stay on it? Why or why not?
3. How would you react if your government forced you to leave your home? How would you handle the situation?
— Compiled by Carrie Waltemeyer for NewsHour Extra
Tags:
Related Stories
Tooltip of related stories
More Videos
Tooltip of more video block
Submit Your Student Voice
More Videos
-
Classroom Resource: During Black History Month, students reflect on their modern-day heroes
Reflect on one teacher’s project to help students see the living history in their own time Continue reading
-
Classroom Resource: Regina King’s directorial debut examines meeting of civil rights voices
Discuss the film One Night in Miami and the reasons it was made Continue reading
-
Daily News Lesson: Recovery may take months even as more help reaches storm-hit Texas
What do you think federal and local authorities should do in response to an emergency like the storms in Texas? Continue reading
-
Classroom Resource: NASA rover lands on Mars, resuming search for remnants of life
Discuss the significance of NASA’s latest mission to Mars. Continue reading
-
Classroom Resource: Is the recent wave of severe weather across the U.S. a harbinger for climate change?
Discuss the extreme winter weather this week and how it might be linked to climate change Continue reading