A/HRC/42/CRP.5 622. The Mission is concerned about the cumulative toll and disproportionate impact on ethnic communities in northern Myanmar of the Government’s deprivation of land through the VFV Law. The Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that the VFV Law and its amendment violates the ICESCR and CRC because of the potential it has to deprive ethnic communities of their lands in a manner that constitutes an unjustified retrogressive measure against people’s economic, social and cultural rights and because it does so in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner. The Mission’s finding is consistent with the seven Special Procedures mandate-holders of the UN Human Rights Council who in 2019 expressed serious concerns that the law could result in the dispossession of land without adequate notice, loss of livelihoods and adequate food and that it could drive people into poverty. 1491 623. The retrogressive nature of the VFV Law and its amendment is marked by its devastating potential to allow the Government to appropriate large swaths of land from ethnic communities. The law has the purpose of allowing the Government to unilaterally confiscate and manage land that it made vacant, often through its own unlawful actions, and then made it impossible or challenging for people to register or return to that land. For these reasons the Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that the VFV Law and its amendment is not based on the “strong justifications” that international human rights law requires for the retrogressive measures of land confiscation. Instead, it is a de facto land grabbing land dispossession scheme that violates the rights that people of northern Myanmar have to adequate food and housing. 624. The Mission also concludes on reasonable grounds that, despite the VFV Law being part of Myanmar’s domestic law, it is an arbitrary law that lacks the precision required under international human rights to give the people of northern Myanmar a clear understanding of how it is interpreted and applied. The VFV Law as amended fails to meet the requirements of international human rights law in other ways. The VFV Law is susceptible to being applied arbitrarily in corrupt and discriminatory ways, in particular to the disadvantage of ethnic communities. Additionally, any protections the law might afford are either unclear, to the point of being meaningless, or inaccessible, due to the insecurity and fear people have to leave their homes to register their lands or to their inability to do so because of their displacement. The VFV Law is also contrary to the Pinheiro Principles due to its discriminatory effect, its arbitrary interference with a person’s home and land, and the manner in which it discourages or makes it impossible for people to register their lands for purposes of restitution. 625. The Mission also assessed the human rights conditions of return of IDPs affected by Myanmar’s security forces and EAOs. The Rohingya section of this report sets out the international rules and standards for the prevention, protection and safe return of IDPs. 1492 What is essential is that the Government has a responsibility to establish conditions and provide the means that allow IDPs to return voluntarily and in safety and with dignity, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country. Authorities must also endeavour to facilitate the reintegration of IDPs and should ensure their full participation in the planning and management of their return or resettlement and reintegration. Land restitution should be implemented in line with the Pinheiro Principles. 626. When assessing the situation of IDPs in northern Myanmar, the Mission concludes on reasonable grounds that the necessary conditions are not met for IDPs who do not wish to return. IDPs have repeatedly reaffirmed this point when expressing their desire to return home while listing myriad reasons return is not suitable. The concerns arise from a 1491 1492 The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; the Special Rapporteur on the right to food; the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; the Special Rapporteur on minority issues and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. MMR 5/2018, available from https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=24275, Myanmar: New land law could have disastrous impact on ethnic minorities, Available from https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24296&LangID=E. See Chapter IV, G: The situation of the Rohingya; conclusions and legal findings. 165