C. Land Recommendations for ICT Companies 4 4.7 Considerations for Land Acquisition / Use  See Chapter 4.9 on Stakeholder Engagement and Access to Remedy for further       recommendations on stakeholder engagement and land acquisition processes. Be sensitive to concerns about ‘land grabbing’: There has been extensive reporting in recent years of outright ‘land grabs’ with little pretence of following the law, and of villagers being deprived altogether of compensation, with or without official expropriation, receiving reduced payment for land, or being denied any recognition of ownership 524 by Government authorities, the military and business. There may therefore be legitimate concern about land grabs in connection with existing and planned ICT projects. Even though the vast majority of land transactions for ICT infrastructure is through long-term leases between willing lessee/lessor, this issue could be a source of tension with local communities and subject of advocacy by civil society groups. Operators and tower companies should expect close public scrutiny of their approach to land issues. Ensure effective, transparent and equitable procedures: The rollout of the ICT infrastructure has an extensive footprint throughout the country, even if the footprint of each individual transaction is not large. When added together, the network rollout will entail thousands of transactions with thousands of landowners. Companies should adopt consistent and effective procedures for consultation and compensation to make sure that this wide range of people impacted by operations are dealt with equitably and transparently across these many transactions. Provide an easy-to-understand guide to the rollout process: This should identify step-by-step each part of the construction and rollout process that is understandable by villagers, in their local language. Provide an easy-to-understand guide to the contracting process: This should include a step-by-step process with checklists that identifies steps, documentation and permitting required that is shared with landowners and local authorities to promote greater transparency. It should provide an easy to understand explanation of the contents of the lease contract. This and any contracting documentation should be provided in local languages and in form that local landowners can readily understand. Recognise customary land titles: Given the lack of a uniform and accessible land registry establishing land ownership; the lack of recognition of customary ownership; and the significance of land-based livelihoods and attachment to ancestral lands, any approach to land use should recognise those customary rights and deal with customary owners on the same basis as more formal land owners. This requires detailed due diligence to understand who the customary owners are, often with direct consultation with communities and local authorities. Provide or pay for legal assistance for landowners: Some stakeholders highlighted good practice of providing landowners with legal assistance where there were more 524 The Land Core Group, a grouping of Myanmar and international NGOs working on land issues, has documented 13 cases of land confiscations in central Myanmar in September 2012 (Land Core Group, “13 Case Studies of Land Confiscations in Three Townships of Central Myanmar” Sep. 2012, on file with IHRB.). Over the last several years the Transnational Institute has focused on land rights problems in Myanmar’s borderlands where ethnic minorities live. See for example TNI, “Financing Dispossession, China’s Opium Substitution Programme in Northern Burma” (Feb. 2012); TNI, “Developing Disparity: Regional Investment in Burma’s Borderlands” (Feb. 2013), and TNI, “Access Denied: Land Rights and Ethnic Conflict in Burma”, (May 2013). Myanmar civil society, including those which are ethnic minority-based, have also reported on land grabs without compensation or recognition of customary ownership. The Karen Human Rights Group has documented land disputes and land grabs in Karen areas over a number of years. See KHRG, “Losing Ground: Land conflicts and collective action in eastern Myanmar” (Mar. 2013). The Human Rights Foundation of Monland has also reported on such abuses, particularly at the hands of the military, in ethnic Mon areas. See for example Human Rights Foundation of Monland, “Disputed Territory: Mon farmers’ fight against unjust land acquisition and barriers to their progress”, (Oct. 2013). 220 PAGE CHAPTER 4.7: LAND