A/HRC/4/14 page 15 risk. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur would like to welcome the opening of legal assistance centres for promoting legal awareness and providing legal services to refugees in camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. 58. Violence against unarmed civilians by the Myanmar military is a very serious concern. The Government of Myanmar has a positive obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians from the effects of armed conflict and, therefore, needs to take the appropriate measures to end the targeting of civilians during military operations. 59. In western Myanmar, the Muslim minority has long been discriminated against, and is denied citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law. Muslim minority asylum-seekers continue to flee to Bangladesh. They are subject to serious abuses, especially forced labour (e.g. construction of roads, bridges, model villages and military facilities, camp maintenance, portering) and arbitrary taxation. They also suffer skyrocketing rice prices. Since January 2006, the government-imposed policy of cultivating physic nut plantations is causing new hardships, including forced labour, extortion and land confiscation. New developments have been observed in recent months, including increased restrictions on movement as it became very difficult to obtain a travel pass after the new village-level administration was put in place, and the closing of a number of mosques which had been repaired or enlarged without permission. The Special Rapporteur praises the international humanitarian organizations and their expatriate staff in northern Rakhine State who have been very helpful in protecting the Muslim minority from the Myanmar military and border security forces. D. Land confiscation 60. Access to and control over land and natural resources has long been central to the political economy of Myanmar. In many ethnic minority-populated areas, repeated incidents of forced displacement - interspersed with occasional periods of relative stability - have been a fact of life for generations. Some 75 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture (including fisheries, forestry and livestock), which accounts for 40 per cent of the gross domestic product. Land and natural resource issues therefore lie at the heart of livelihoods in Myanmar. 61. A large-scale and effectively arbitrary land confiscation policy prevails throughout the country. These confiscations appear to have several aims, including relocating civilian populations deemed to be sympathetic to the armed opposition; anchoring a military presence in disputed areas through the deployment or support of new Army battalions; opening the way for infrastructure development projects, including the Lawpita dam, the three proposed Salween dams and the Day Loh dam in Toungoo District; the extraction of natural resources, notably offshore gas; and providing various interest groups, including the military and foreign groups, with business opportunities, e.g. economic concessions, including for logging and mining. This policy has led to numerous forced evictions, relocations and resettlements, especially in rural areas but also in urban areas, most notably in connection with the move of the capital from Yangon to Pyinmana. 62. The Land Nationalization Act of 26 October 1953 confers land ownership on the State. Legal practice in Myanmar today generally refers to this Law, which recognizes some private ownership of agricultural land, although it restricts land sales or transfers. However, the Law