Burma's War on Drugs: A glass half full, or half empty

No.15 - 6/2007
29 June 2007
Drugs

Burma's War on Drugs: A glass half full, or half empty
 
Rangoon's 15 year narcotics elimination plan  that began in the 1999-2000 poppy season has so far been yielding debatable results, despite "clapping and cheering" from the UN Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), according to SHAN's Drug Watch members inside Shan State who recently turned up at the border.
 
For one thing, says one, the plan's Phase One (1999-2004) had targeted 22 townships in Shan State. However, findings by the group shows that cultivation is still being reported in at least 11 townships:
North               Mongyai                      Hsenwi
                        Tangyan                      Kutkhai
                        Lashio                         Namkham
 
South               Kunhing                      Faikhun (Pekhon)
                        Mongpan                     Mongkeung
                        Hsihseng                    
 
For Phase Two (2004-2009), 20 townships (4 in Kachin State and 16 in Shan State) are being zeroed in on. Notable success is found in 6 townships controlled by the Wa, who declared zero production in 2005. However, increased cultivation is being reported in the adjoining townships, particularly Mongpiang, whose sub-township Markmang had yielded, by conservative calculation, an estimated 3.6 tons during the 2006-07 season.

Meanwhile, according to Kachin News Group, production has upsurged in the 4 projected townships in Kachin State: Kamaing, Waingmaw, Momauk, and Mohnyin, due to the fact that the State is not the center of attention. "International focus is on Shan State, not Kachin State," explains Lahpai Naw Din, the KNG's editor. "As a result, cultivation has spread to at least 2 farflung townships: Sumprabum and Putao."
 
The upcoming Phase Three (2009-2014) has 9 townships (5 in Shan, 2 in Kayah and another 2 in Chin), totaling 51 townships in all that have been targeted by the military government. "It may well succeed with active cooperation from local armed groups like Kokang, Wa and Mongla," said a Drug Watch member. "But the problem is even in places like Chin State, townships outside the projected areas have caught the poppy bug."
 
The two townships projected for eradication in Chin State are Falam and Tonzang, but cultivation in Tiddim has been reported by Khonumthung, a news group based in India.
 
The balloon effect also appears to be taking place outside the targeted 4 states: Shan, Kachin, Kayah(Karenni) and Chin. Incoming reports say there is poppy cultivation in Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe divisions and Arakan State. According to Kaladan Press, it has even crossed the border into Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, where the Bangladeshi Army found and destroyed 50 acres of fields in February.