Landowners have been illegally evicted from their land by the junta which wrongly claimed they were squatting there, destroyed their houses and put the land up for sale, in Mon State’s Mawlamyine City.

Since March 2025, the junta has been forcibly confiscating land between Hlaing and Tharyaraye wards in Mawlamyine City. It wrongly accused the residents there, many of whom own the land they live on, of being squatters, evicted them, seized their land and then destroyed hundreds of their homes. It is now demarcating their land into plots and has started selling it.

An order issued in early March, by the Mawlamyine Township Municipal Director, mandated the eviction of all residents from 11.239 acres (about 4.5 hectares) of land between Hlaing and Tharyaraye wards, which led to the land confiscations and the demolishing of hundreds of homes.

The junta has now begun demarcating plots, constructing roads, levelling the ground, and installing electricity poles on the confiscated land, claiming it is part of the implementation of the Hlaing Yadanar new town project.

The junta justified the land confiscations by claiming the areas were designated as farmland and therefore not legally permitted for settlement; however, in a contradictory move, it is now demarcating and selling plots for residential use, according to a Mawlamyine resident who spoke to than Lwin Times and wanted to remain anonymous.

He said: “When it confiscated the land, the junta claimed it was illegal to live on land that was not officially designated for residing. At the time, it planted flags along a straight line and seized all the land within that marked area, saying it was for a main road. But after that, it continued taking land on both sides of the road too. Now, it is dividing the area into plots and selling them for 140 to 150 million kyats each.”

He added that the junta has been completely self-serving in the way it has forcibly evicted people, illegally seized their land and is now dividing it up and selling it.

Many of those who were evicted from their land have been suddenly left homeless and are now suffering significant hardships. Some have had to seek refuge in churches and monasteries, according to a man who was evicted from his land.

He said to Than Lwin Times: “The junta seized the land, claiming it was squatter territory, and left the locals in a desperate situation. Some have resorted to renting houses, while others who still own land elsewhere have built makeshift shelters. The poor have sought refuge in monasteries and churches.”

The Hlaing Yadanar new town project is a collaboration between the junta and U Moe Kyaw, the owner of Ngwe Moe Hotel in Mawlamyine City and a known associate of the coup regime, according to sources close to the matter.

There are rumours that the junta plans to prioritise the sale of land plots in the Hlaing Yadanar new town project on an instalment basis to people conscripted under the military draft, though Than Lwin Times has been unable to independently verify such rumours.