ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on transnational nongovernmental organization (NGO) advocacy to address and remedy injustices caused by land grabbing and forced resettlement in the case of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Myanmar, a joint project between the governments of Myanmar and Japan. During the first phase of developing the SEZ (2012–2015), forced displacement and the lack of adequate, transparent, and participatory consultations prompted Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) into activism. Facing the unresponsive Myanmarese government, local activists directly engaged with the Japanese government. The PAPs’ claim of human rights violations further contributed to the emergence of a transnational advocacy network (TAN), involving local NGOs in Myanmar and Japan and international NGOs, to exert pressure on the Japanese government. The transnational NGO advocacy led the Examiners of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a governmental agency, to launch an investigation to examine whether the SEZ project violated JICA guidelines for environmental and social considerations. The case study shows that the presumed inequalities based on nationality and class surrounding SEZ development can be reconfigured in this transnational advocacy process. In particular, the involvement of the Japanese NGO was key to the reconfiguration.
