In 2016, TBC and the Transnational Institute (TNI) began facilitating a process to bring together internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees form different parts of the country, as well as the local frontline organizations that support them, to discuss their land issues related to return and restitution in order to strengthen their advocacy on this issue.

The right to land for IDPs and refugees is fundamentally important: it means the guaranteed right of IDPs and refugees to build a life with dignity of their own choosing with recognition and support from the wider community and the state. Today, this right is under serious threat. Refugees and IDPs face numerous challenges in trying to ensure that they will be able to return to fully and meaningfully exercise their right to land in a way of their own choosing.

On 21 August 2019, representatives from IDP communities and civil society organisations from five states and a region as well as refugees from Thailand met again in Yangon. Yhey shared the diverse challenges they are facing and their distinct experiences in trying to claim their right to land. The group updated their collective analysis and finalized a common briefing paper which was then presented to representatives from ethnic political parties, foreign embassies, donor agencies, national media and wider civil society.

The briefing paper is available in English and Burmese