A/HRC/42/CRP.5 Burmese, as they would effectively be prevented from registering. 1446 In many of the ethnic communities in northern Myanmar, women face barriers inheriting or owning land under customary practices,1447 with the 2018 amendment potentially having the effect of excluding women further and compounding economic disenfranchisement. 604. In February 2019, a month before the end of the registration period, a prominent legal network conducted a survey to explore whether and to what extent farmers knew about the 2012 VFV Law and its 2018 amendment.1448 The survey involved 290 participants from one Region and three States, including three townships in Shan State.1449 The key findings of the survey indicate that smallholder farmers and subsistence livestock breeders in ethnic rural areas had limited awareness of the Law and its 2018 amendment. 1450 Those who were aware of them had little understanding of their substance, deadlines, registration procedures and exemptions.1451 The survey’s findings are consistent with accounts received by the Mission.1452 605. Section 30 (a) of the 2018 amendment exempts particular types of land from the provisions of the VFV Law, including “customary lands designated under traditional culture of the local ethnic people” and “the lands currently used for religious, social, education, health, and transportation purposes of the public and ethnic people”. 606. This may be positive for protecting land from being designated as VFV land. However, in mid-February, according to the survey, only one per cent of the 290 farmers surveyed were aware that customary land is excluded from the definition of VFV land.1453 Moreover, the amended law fails to provide a clear definition of what constitutes customary lands and how lands could be formally recognized as such.1454 Further reports received by the Mission indicate that, in some areas, local level orders on the registration process failed to mention the exemption clauses1455 and that those who were aware of the exemptions did not know whether they needed to register the land they used or whether the land was covered by the exemption.1456 607. The Mission received information that the 2012 Law and its 2018 amendment have been used recently by the Tatmadaw to affirm and legitimize their control over lands they had previously seized.1457 608. With the boundaries of the VFV lands being undetermined, and in the absence of a clear legal framework on what constitutes customary lands, administrative entities appear to have the discretion to determine which lands would be covered by the exemption clause. Some feared this may result in inconsistent, arbitrary or corrupt decisions.1458 609. Reports received by the Mission indicate that the Law and its amendments were perceived by many in northern Myanmar as illegitimate, as they entailed classifying their land as VFV and longstanding owners relinquishing customary rights in exchange for potential 30-year land use concessions within a government-controlled land management 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 2183, GM-020. Namati, Gendered Aspects of Land Rights in Myanmar II: Evidence from Paralegal Case Work (June 2019); Gender Profile for Humanitarian Action, and across the Humanitarian-Peace-Development Nexus (Rakhine, Kachin and Northern Shan Myanmar) January 2019; Woods, Kevin. “A Political Anatomy of Land Grabs.” Transnational Institute, March 2014; Faxon, Hilary. “The Praxis of Access: Gender in Myanmar’s Land Use Policy.” Conference Paper No. 17, Chiang Mai University, May 2015, pp.7-8. 2183. 2183. 2183, GM-019, GM-020, GM-017. 2183. GM-018, GM-019, GM-020, GI-056, GI-055, GI-053, GI-052. 2183. 2183, V-369, V-367. GM-018. GM-20, V-415. GM-018, GM-020, GI-050, V-414. V-416, V-367. 161