The junta has arrested 12 villagers in Hopong Township, southern Shan State, for protesting the military regime’s land seizure.

On March 30, junta troops, police, administrative officials, land brokers, and members of the junta-aligned Pa-O National Organisation (PNO) militia arrived in Nawngtawng and Nyaungpin villages in Hopong with bulldozers, intending to demolish local homes, which sparked protests from residents.

On March 30, the junta carried out a nighttime raid in which it broke the doors of local homes and abducted 12 protesters, including the village elder of Nyaungpin Village, the Pa-O Youth Organization (PYO) reported on April 1.

The detainees, largely elderly, were deprived of food and left starving by the junta until the night of March 31. According to the PYO, many residents fled their homes in fear of additional raids.

“The people make their living on this land. Their future depends on it. The junta’s seizure of this land is outright bullying with weapons. In such a critical situation, the people need to stand more united. They also need to question the position of the MPs they themselves elected,” said Khun Oo, the vice chairman of the PYO.

He said that similar cases of unjust land grabbing by the junta have occurred not just in Hopong, but also in Hsihseng and Pinlaung townships in southern Shan State, and that the public should keep protesting while systematically documenting these incidents.

On March 29, junta troops and police forcibly evicted over 80 residents from their homes in Nawngtawng Village, leaving the locals with no choice but to flee, a Hopong resident reported.

"At first, quarrels erupted between the junta troops and the locals, but ultimately, over 80 households were forced to leave. These people worked hard to earn this land. Now, land brokers are teaming up with armed groups to push them out. Locals have no one to turn to and are really suffering," he said. 

Back in 1992, the military government at the time seized nearly 20,000 acres of land along the Hopong–Loilem Highway. In 2015, although the land was meant to be returned to the local people, the PNO, which oversaw the process, teamed up with land brokers to allocate and sell the plots for profit.

Last year, the Hopong Township General Administration Office issued three eviction notices targeting over 200 households in Myo Oo Kwatthit Ward and Nawngtawng Village.