BURMA COURIER No. 234 May 28 - Jun 3, 2000

MONS DEMAND COMPENSATION FOR LAND SEIZURES

SANGKHLABURI, June 1 (MUL) -- The Mon Unity League is demanding that the
Rangoon military regime compensate farmers in Ye township whose lands have
been taken over by army battalions newly stationed in the township.

The MUL says that over 900 acres of land in the northern part of the
township were appropriated by LIB 343 last year, while 200 acres were
seized in southern Ye township by LIB 299 in the same period. The land,
sown with various varieties of tropical fruits, vegetables and rubber
trees, by local farmers is estimated to have a value of at least 90
million kyat ($US 260,000), but requests for compensation have been ignored.

The MUL says the land seizures are in clear violation of the cease-fire
agreement signed by the New Mon State Party with the military in 1996 and
it is demanding that the appropriations of land in areas covered by the
agreement cease forthwith and that arrangement for compensation be set up
immediately. The League, which brings together Mons from around the
world, has denounced the expansion of central army control in Ye township.