The Local Administrative Department of the Pa’O Self-Administered Zone Leading Body, under the military regime, has ordered residents of Long Hkoke village tract in Hopong Township to vacate 561.75 acres of land declared state property, warning that forced removal will follow if homes and structures are not dismantled by February 27.

According to an official notice, the Central Committee for the Management of Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Lands approved the land designation in October 2025. Authorities have since instructed local farmers and households to “resettle,” stating that enforcement measures will be taken against those who fail to comply.

Residents strongly reject the classification of the land as “vacant,” arguing that it has been continuously farmed and inhabited by their families for decades.

“This is land cultivated by our ancestors. Now they are using the label ‘Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Land’ to force us out. They are calling us squatters on government land in order to evict us,” a local man from Hopong told SHAN.

Locals say officials have already begun marking plots, constructing access roads, and installing electricity infrastructure under what authorities describe as a resettlement plan. However, residents allege they are being required to pay into a designated “fund” if they wish to remain in the same area.

“They want us to demolish our houses and leave, and then pay 4 million kyats (approximately USD 1,020) to build a home and live on our own land again. It feels like we are being forced to buy back our own property. It appears that the PNO (Pa-O National Organization) and land brokers are working together to remove us,” said another resident in his 30s.

The “Committee for Clearing and Resettling Squatters,” established by the local administrative body, has specifically ordered that all unauthorized structures north of Naung Tawng Monastery be removed by the February 27 deadline.

The eviction order follows a similar incident in the third week of January, when land brokers, accompanied by members of the PNO and police, reportedly threatened more than 100 households in Nyaung Bin village, south of Naung Tawng Monastery. In that case, authorities claimed the land belonged to the military and demanded immediate evacuation.

Residents fear the order signals a broader pattern of land reclassification under the Vacant, Fallow, and Virgin Lands framework, with ancestral farmland being redesignated and long-established communities pressured to leave under threat of enforcement.