Hundreds homeless after junta bulldozes residences in Mandalay Region

The junta issued an early April order to “remove” more than 1,000 households from several villages in Mandalay’s Patheingyi Township, alleging that they were built along a central power line. At the time of reporting the military had already destroyed 100 of the condemned residences, locals said. The junta-controlled department of electricity supply and supervision issued a warning to families living in the Mandalay communities of Nang Oo Lwin, Kan Kauk, Gway Gyi Kone, Kone Tan, Tekone, and Kywel Ye Kone. It said that they must leave their homes by April 4 as the structures were above a 230 kV power line—within 75 of it on either side. The Myanmar army then bulldozed more than 100 houses in Nang Oo Lwin on April 5 and 6, a local from the village said. “They’re bulldozing houses in the scorching heat,” he told Myanmar Now. “They are not even allowing people to take their belongings. Although my house was spared this time, it was really heart wrenching.” Nearly 500 people in the village were made homeless, many of whom had already been displaced by fighting between the military and resistance forces elsewhere. “These people had to rent rooms in an emergency while the less fortunate people had to take shelter at monasteries and their friends’ places,” the local man explained. In Kan Kauk, 600 residences have been identified for demolition—the highest of any of the villages named. Myanmar Now was unable to independently verify how many homes were marked for destruction in each of the remaining communities, only that the total was more than 1,000. “We’ve been living on this land for eight years since we bought it with our hard-earned money,” a resident of Kan Kauk said. “This order to evict us is haunting us every waking hour as we do not have anywhere else where we can flee.” Another Kan Kauk local said that the power line in question began operating in 2017, and that those in the area were told at that time they would be compensated if any problems arose from the project. Hundreds of Kan Kauk residents attempted to send a plea to the junta’s headquarters in Naypyitaw to withdraw the eviction order after meeting with local military-appointed administrators on April 1, who reportedly were unsympathetic. “They only further threatened that they would bulldoze our houses if we did not finish the evacuation in time and that they couldn’t wait until we finalised the plea and they would even take legal action against us,” the local source said. In July 2023, the military put warning signs and eviction notices in red paint on more than 9,000 households across several villages in Patheingyi, accusing the families living there of being squatters with no claim to the land. Locals also allegedly sent pleas to the junta to reconsider the move, with some reportedly even attempting to bribe the regime authorities to halt the plans. Elsewhere in Mandalay Region, the military is said to be planning to bulldoze more than 300 houses near the Defence Services Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin, alleging that the residents were “squatting in military territory” in Ye Chan Oh ward. Soldiers also bulldozed several abandoned lots in the ward on Sunday, locals said. The military sealed off more than 200 shopfronts and homes on a major road through Pyin Oo Lwin last year.

Hundreds homeless after junta bulldozes residences in Mandalay Region

The military council issues an eviction notice for 1,000 houses in Patheingyi Township, claiming that they were built on a power line

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