Forced eviction leaves hundreds homeless in Yangon Region village

The residents of a village of about 400 houses in northern Yangon Region say they have been forcibility evicted and their homes demolished after being told they were living in a military zone.

The residents of Tha Mee Lay village in Hlegu Township said bulldozers began destroying their homes early on February 4 in an operation that also involved about 2,000 government officials.

Villagers said some of the officials were wearing Yangon City Development Committee uniforms and others were in plain clothes.

“The Yangon City Development Council officers and the plain-clothes policemen and army personnel came into our village at 5am and started to demolish our houses,” said resident, U Myint Maung.

“The bulldozers tore down the houses, they destroyed every house,” he said.

“They did not leave anything, they even confiscated the farm animals we raised and took them away.”

Myint Maung said the township authority had written to residents about a month ago to tell them to vacate their homes or face charges of trespass because the village was in a military zone.

“We have lived here for such a long time,” another resident, Ko Nay Lin, told Mizzima.

“We never thought our home would be destroyed,” he said. “I didn’t think the would do this for real, even though we received the notification letter.”

Some villagers have been relocated to a nearby monastery, but others are refusing to leave the village and have erected temporary shelters on the remains of their homes.

The Hlegu Township administration could not be reached for comment.