Marie Lall writes "For Myanmar today, the issue is not only the drug trade and how this fuels ethnic conflict, but also the increase in local drug use and the HIV epidemic, especially in the border areas". There is ambiguity in this statement but it appears that she is saying that the drug trade fuels 'ethnic' conflict, the increase in local drug use, and the increase in the HIV epidemic.
I have asked the author, who is said to be an expert with Egress, for evidence that the HIV epidemic is increasing but she has not replied. I think it is not.
Jamie
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Drug production tests Myanmar govt
Marie Lall
Global Times
2015-2-8 19:28:02
In 2008, it was widely believed that Myanmar's 15-year program to eradicate the growing of poppies had been successful. At the time, some even spoke of having won the war against the drug trade in the Golden Triangle. Today, only seven years later, Myanmar is the world's second largest supplier of opium after Afghanistan. What has gone wrong?
There has been increased poppy cultivation since President U Thein Sein's government took over in 2011. According to the Myanmar Peace Monitor, Myanmar produces 25 percent of the world's opium. Poppy cultivation increased steadily for the last seven years jumping 17 percent from 2011 to 2012. The UN said figures were up again by a staggering 26 percent in 2013.
The growth of poppies and the production of opium are closely related to the conflict between the Myanmar army, the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed groups (EAGs). In the post independence era, the Burmese Communist Party (BCP) fighting against the then Burmese government had an anti-drugs policy and a crop substitution program. However, when support from outside waned in the early 1980s and dried up completely at the end of the Cold War, the various EAGs that were fighting together under the ambit of the BCP split up and several started to become involved in the broad machinations of the drug trade to finance the conflict.
The first set of ceasefires in the early 1990s helped reduce poppy cultivation, and the State Peace and Development Council developed a 15-year master plan to eliminate drugs between 1999 and 2014. This coincided with an ASEAN-wide policy that aimed to combat the drug trade across all member states.
For over a decade, poppy cultivation declined and Myanmar's role in the drug trade across the Golden Triangle was dramatically reduced. Today however, there has been a sharp rise.
As the nationwide ceasefire negotiations and the peace process between the Myanmar government and the EAGs have taken shape, it seems that some EAGs have used the new space to increase the opium trade. EAG involvement usually means taxing the farmers that cultivate the poppies, but also getting involved in the production of drugs and sale of the produce across the border.
The issue is particularly pertinent with the United Wa State Army, who recently have reopened Popakyen in Ming Hsat Township, a trading hub, despite a government ban. The Wa feel they can defy Nay Pyi Taw as they have 20,000 to 30,000 men under arms and an arsenal of heavy weaponry.
Other EAGs are also alleged to be involved in the drug trade, though some groups have vigorously fought the trade, attacking factories and burning poppy fields.
The army is not without blame either. Myanmar military commanders allow People's Militia Forces to establish their own drug production plants and trafficking networks in order to cut off the EAGs' profits.
The farmers who today choose to cultivate poppy are poor and feel they have no choice. A recent TV documentary on the opium process in Shan State shows that to date substitute crops have not worked. The money that can be made from selling the poppy sap is simply more lucrative than anything else the farmers feel they can grow. A new program is trying to substitute poppy cultivation with coffee, but the farmers in that area are not yet convinced.
Another issue lies with the demand for the drugs. The increased demand for heroin and amphetamine tablets, especially from China but also other Southeast Asian countries, means that eradication programs fail in the countries of production.
For Myanmar today, the issue is not only the drug trade and how this fuels ethnic conflict, but also the increase in local drug use and the HIV epidemic, especially in the border areas. The repressive drug policies have only led to the criminalization of the users and small-scale dealers, which in turn has led to overfilled prisons and a lack of access to adequate medical care by those requiring rehabilitation or HIV treatment.
The government is aware of the problem. The president has on a number of occasions called for better measures to tackle the drug epidemic, acknowledging that this is one of the issues his government has not managed to control yet. But neighboring countries need to get involved for the program to ultimately succeed.
The author is a South Asia expert with the Yangon-based Myanmar Egress, a non-profit organization founded by Myanmar scholars and social workers. She is also a Myanmar specialist with Technology & Management Practice.
opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/906625.shtml
