Land prices soar in western Karenni as war displaces thousands

Land prices and property transactions have surged across townships in western Karenni State, even as the area remains a frontline of armed resistance and hosts large numbers of civilians displaced by Myanmar’s civil war. Since the coup in Karenni (Kayah) State, which borders Thailand in the country’s southeast, fighting between the junta and local resistance forces has forced nearly half of the state’s 400,000 residents to flee. Nearly five years after the coup, displaced residents remain unable to return home and have begun buying land and building houses in three western townships of Demoso, while local ethnic residents sell property to cope with mounting financial hardship. Land transactions have surged across village tracts in the region, with prices skyrocketing: plots that once sold for 500,000–1 million kyats now fetch 10–100 million kyats (from about $125 to $2,500–$25,000), according to Saw Eh Say, coordinator of the Kayah Earthrights Action Network (KEAN). “A plot of land that once sold for 500,000 to 1 million kyats now goes for tens to hundreds of millions,” he said. “Even though local residents are not displaced, the war has left them unable to work, so selling land is often their only way to make a living.” Saw Eh Say added that displaced people were initially allowed to take temporary shelter on residents’ land, but as their displacement continued, they began buying their own plots. As demand rises, displaced residents, outside investors and resistance groups are increasingly buying and reselling plots for profit, turning land into a growing local market, KEAN coordinator Saw Eh Say said. Much of the land is traditionally managed and, in some cases, includes houses and village compounds, reports say. A KEAN report warned that the trades could erode land ownership among future local generations and shrink farmland, creating challenges for the Interim Executive Council of Karenni State, the resistance-run civilian authority, in overseeing land and natural resources.Karenni State has been a major front in Myanmar’s civil war since the 2021 coup, with local resistance forces rapidly seizing large swathes of territory and pushing the military out of many rural areas. But those gains have proven uneven. Junta airstrikes, reinforcements, and counteroffensives have allowed the military to retake key positions in some areas, leaving control fluid and the conflict entrenched. IEC officials told Myanmar Now that it will work to manage Karenni State through 16 townships and aims to provide as many services and resources as possible to the population.“If the military council holds a sham election and establishes an illegal government, they will try to control as many areas as possible and then offer some freedom or amnesties, or release people,” Banyar Khun Aung, the Secretary 2 of the IEC told Myanmar Now.“If the Myanmar military allows movement in some areas, we are concerned that displaced people who have been living in the jungle for years will return to the cities to make a living once they have some freedom. If so, their focus on the people's revolution might decrease.”The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) said the junta is fighting on five fronts—in Loikaw, Demoso, Hpruso, Bawlake, and Pekon—with clashes occurring daily. After resistance forces launched Operation 1111 against the capital Loikaw in November 2023, the junta counterattacked, recapturing Loikaw and Demoso—towns strategically key for military operations in Karenni State. The junta has also regained control of Moebye and Pekon, located along the Shan-Karenni border. Loikaw, Bawlake, Demoso, and Hpruso townships in Karenni State are part of phases 1 and 2 of the junta-led election.Banyar Khun Aung pointed out that the junta-appointed election commission may try to win over the public, one that has backed the resistance despite five years of post-coup hardship by easing restrictions and diverting attention from the uprising. “If this is the case, the revolution will face many difficulties and challenges,” he said. “The military will hold a fake election. It will form a fake government. And it will call for fake peace, but in reality, it will not be able to provide the federal democracy that we want.”

Land prices soar in western Karenni as war displaces thousands

Displacement, financial hardship and investor interest have sent land prices skyrocketing in parts of Karenni, even as fighting with the junta grinds on

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