The Yangon Region Government announced it would collaborate with international organisations to relocate squatters away from state-owned land, state media reported on 14 June.
At a press conference on the government’s one-year performance held on 9 June, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said they are interested in resettlement efforts for the squatters and are discussing resettlement plans with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). The government is compiling a list of squatters that will aid them in choosing an area of land for the resettlement programme.
The number of squatters trespassing in development committee lands was initially thought to be around 300,000 people however a survey revealed there are over 400,000 squatters.
The issue was most recently highlighted when at least six people were arrested on Monday as Yangon authorities started to clear squatters out of a huge slum on the city's northern fringes.
Armed police escorted hundreds of local authority workers wielding bamboo sticks, rakes and saws as they descended on the shantytown in Hlegu township -- the first major forced eviction under the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Local reports said the slum, around 45 kilometres (28 miles) northeast of Yangon near the highway to Mandalay, was home to 4,000 houses.
(additional reporting AFP)