When U Mya Hlaing came home three years ago he found an eviction notice plastered to his front door. It accused him of being a squatter on his own farmland and told him to pack his bags within two weeks or face 30 days in prison. His village would be destroyed to make way for a multibillion dollar industrial project.
His community was initially given no further explanation and offered no compensation for the loss of their farms and livelihoods. Instead, the government stopped giving them agricultural loans and cut off the water supply used to water their paddies in the hot season.
"I think it is a strategy to put us into debt and force us off our land," said U Mya Hlaing, sitting on the creaky floor of a small wooden house about a one-hour drive from Yangon.