Myanmar junta seizes ousted civilian leaders’ real estate in Naypyitaw

Myanmar’s military council has confiscated property in the administrative capital Naypyitaw owned by leading members of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) party, according to locals and military-run media. A junta-controlled newspaper reported on November 27 that 30-year land leases for 36 plots in Ottarathiri and Dekkhinathiri townships, including those owned by NLD officials, had been rescinded. The report also said that payments for the plots may be refunded, but did not specify a reason for the lease cancellations. Myanmar Now has confirmed that a land plot owned by the deposed state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and another owned by ousted president Win Myint are among the 36 plots that the junta has effectively seized by cancelling the leases. The first plot is overgrown with grass and bushes. The latter is also covered by dense undergrowth and is enclosed by a fence, but shows no other sign of human habitation, according to Naypyitaw residents living nearby. The remaining plots are reportedly owned by ministers and deputy ministers of the NLD government, although identifying details have yet to be confirmed. One plot with a fence and a house—owned by deposed minister for the office of the state counsellor Kyaw Tint Swe—was also specifically listed among those with a cancelled lease in the junta-controlled media report. Further investigation found that Kyaw Tint Swe had built a house and resided on the plot before the military coup, and has lived there again since his release from prison in November 2022. During the NLD’s administration, president’s office spokesperson Zaw Htay told the media that government officials could apply for real estate plots at a pre-set price to use as housing after retirement. Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint reportedly applied to purchase 400-square-foot plots, while ministers and deputy ministers applied for plots with areas of 300 and 250 square feet, respectively. The practice of allocating real estate to military leaders and government officials has continued at least since Thein Sein’s presidency, from 2011 to 2016. During the former military regime, before Thein Sein’s transitional administration, former dictator Than Shwe relocated Myanmar’s administrative offices to Naypyitaw and also allocated land plots to high-ranking officials. He and other close associates claimed plots in Pobbathiri Township, where they built and settled in luxury homes in what locals have since come to call the “row of six mansions.” The military council has not rescinded the leases for plots belonging to officials who served under Than Shwe or Thein Sein. Following the coup, the junta brought a raft of charges, including corruption, against Aung San Suu Kyi. They accused her of using misappropriated funds in the purchase of more than 100 acres of land in Pobbathiri Township to build facilities for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, which was established in honour of her mother. The land bought for the foundation is now untended and overgrown, and the area is largely abandoned and inaccessible due to the large piles of refuse surrounding it, local sources said. The military council has held Aung San Suu Kyi, now 79, under house arrest and in prison since the 2021 coup, denying her access to legal counsel.

Myanmar junta seizes ousted civilian leaders’ real estate in Naypyitaw

Regime-run media reported that leases on land plots in Naypyitaw have been revoked, including those allocated to Aung San Suu Kyi, Win Myint, and other officials removed from power in the 2021 coup

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