Kicking the habit

Kicking the habit

Ceasefire with rebel groups may help Myanmar make progress in war on illegal drugs, but it needs a lot more resources and international help

Myanmar police burn a pile of illegal drugs during a ceremony held to mark International Day against Drug Abuse in Yangon in June this year.
Myanmar police burn a pile of illegal drugs during a ceremony held to mark International Day against Drug Abuse in Yangon in June this year.

Myanmar still faces big challenges in the area of narcotics control, and while a ceasefire agreement with some ethnic groups might set a positive tone, collaboration to control precursor chemicals on its western border remains weak.

The mixed assessment was delivered by officials of the country's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) during their meeting with the regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Nay Pyi Taw on Oct 15.

While the drug experts were meeting, a landmark deal was being signed almost next door between the Myanmar government and eight armed ethnic groups for a nationwide ceasefire. The agreement included a pledge by all sides to do more to curb the spread of illicit drugs.  

"It's a welcome start that the drug issue is mentioned in the agreement -- at least an acknowledgement by the high-level representatives from the minorities and Nay Pyi Taw to cooperate on the matter," said Jeremy Douglas, the Bangkok-based regional representative of the UNODC.

On the last page of the 12-page ceasefire agreement, eradication of illicit drugs was one of the six tasks stipulated during the interim period of the ceasefire and political dialogue.

Pol Col Myint Aung, head of the international relations department of the CCDAC, agreed that the cause of narcotics control would benefit greatly from the ceasefire agreement -- particularly opium poppy cultivation reduction and interception of trafficked substances.

"It was quite a mandate," said Myint Aung, though he conceded that consultations have yet to be worked out for detailed projects.

Maung Zarni, a UK-based Burmese critic of the Myanmar regime, was less optimistic. He said the Myanmar military had long been centrally involved in opium cultivation, narcotics production and smuggling in many different ways.

Pol Col Myint Aung, head of international relations, Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, Myanmar Ministry of Home Affairs

As well, he said, there was no real peace agreement, but only a partial and limited ceasefire with a few key groups, most notably the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Karen National Union (KNU). Of these two main groups -- out of eight that signed the limited ceasefire with the government -- the KNU has no history of involvement in the drug trade. But the RCSS led by Yawd Serk, a former member of the late opium warlord Khun Sa's notorious drug army, is another story.

Maung Zarni also noted that the main Wa rebel group, which has a history of involvement in drug trade, did not sign the limited ceasefire agreement.   

"There is no likelihood of drug reduction as a result of this limited and partial ceasefire for two reasons," he said. "First, the government army itself is involved in the cultivation of opium and smuggling of narcotics. As well, the main Wa group is unaffected by the partial ceasefire."

Myint Aung, meanwhile, is taking heart from some positive developments on other fronts. For example, he has lauded cooperation with Chinese authorities in busting the precursor chemicals movement. The two sides plan annual bilateral talks in December in China, he said.

However, he also conceded that despite serious efforts along the China-Myanmar border last year, traffickers were becoming more sophisticated and able to avert suppression -- due in large part to intervention by ethnic armed groups. Revenue from the drug trade has long helped fund the military campaigns of some of these groups.

In terms of poppy production, of which 90% takes place in Shan state, post-ceasefire efforts to eradicate the poppy fields should be more earnest, he said.

Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has continued to record year-on-year increases in cultivation area since 2006. Production and trafficking of other illicit drugs, most notably amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and their precursors, also increased in 2013, with ecstasy and methamphetamine now considered the primary drugs of use locally by the Myanmar Police Force.

Continued inaccessibility, due to security reasons, to the main areas where illicit drug crop cultivation and drug production occurs remains a considerable challenge to the anti-narcotics efforts by the Myanmar government and the international community, says the European Union's Dublin Group, which focuses on narcotics control efforts.

Pol Col Myint Aung said Myanmar needed assistance from all the UN agencies and international non-government organisations (NGOs) to support ongoing efforts, especially in terms of sustainable crop substitutes for household food security so that farmers would not return to the "easy money" option of poppies again.

Currently, anti-drug cooperation has several dimensions. Myanmar and the UNODC have signed a landmark Integrated Country Programme for 2014-17, agreeing to collaborate to strengthen the rule law and address significant crime and drug issues.

The UNODC has also revised the Mekong MoU on Drug Control, to which all six Mekong states were signatories, to strengthen integration efforts in the regional fight against drugs.

Meanwhile, the more political elements of the campaign are worked out through the framework of the Asean Senior Officials on Drug Matters.

While the Mekong MoU is mostly about strategy and capacity building, Thailand and China subsequently started the complementary Safe Mekong plan for operations with Laos and Myanmar.

Safe Mekong, according to Thai Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya, will also be expanded to cover Cambodia and Vietnam, with strategic and planning advice from the UNDOC.

A man injects himself with heroin in a village in the township of Hpakant in Kachin State in northern Myanmar, where years of armed conflict have weakened communities and led to high addiction levels.

MORE TO BE DONE

The government of Myanmar is close to the end of a three-phase, 20-year drug control plan (1999 to 2019) that was aimed at creating a drug-free country by 2019.

But even in the first and second phases -- eradication of opium poppy cultivation -- there were some reversals. Since declining to a 10-year low in 2006, poppy cultivation has steadily increased, with 2013 cultivation levels 2.7 times those of 2006, according to the UNODC.

The Myanmar drug control plan focuses specifically on 51 townships covering 143,740 square kilometres with a population of approximately 3.8 million.

The CCDAC, under of the Ministry of Home Affairs, spearheads the effort to discourage drug cultivation and production through a number of working groups focused on specific areas: crop substitution, livestock breeding, medical treatment, rehabilitation, youth education, law enforcement, administration of seized narcotic drugs, international relations, control of precursor chemicals, effective settlement of narcotic drug cases, and others. The committee currently operates 26 Anti-Narcotic Task Force (ANTF) units across the country.

In September 2013, the Ministry for Home Affairs announced the creation of 24 new ANTF units, which will take the total to 50. The CCDAC coordinates law-enforcement activities of the Myanmar Police Force, the Customs Department and other authorities, as well as alternative development activities in cooperation with the Ministry of Border Affairs.

Myint Aung said a lack of drug-suppression officers remained a problem. Currently, there are only six such officials along the China-Myanmar border, four along the Thai-Myanmar border, two along the border with India and one on the border with Laos.

"A lot of reforms are being undertaken in Myanmar as we're trying to address not only drug issues but also human trafficking too, so we need specialised law enforcers in those areas," he said.

Myint Aung said the ANTF intended to scale up the number of staff manning border checkpoints as well as to expand checkpoints and the frequency of surveillance and interception work.

He conceded that he was disappointed with the anti-drugs effort along the border shared by Myanmar and four Indian states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. In each state there has been an alarming influx of drug dealers and an increase in HIV-related diseases, according to Indian documents.

Only the border town of Tamu in Sagaing Division of Myanmar and the Indian border town of Moreh in Manipur have established checkpoints. Moreh is an important border town that has been identified as a transit point for heroin and other drugs coming in bulk from the Golden Trangle where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, Indian officials have complained.

However, there are no checkpoints between the Indian towns of Bishoi and Champahia, along a 200-kilometre stretch adjacent to Shan state in Myanmar.

Both India and Myanmar are among 22 countries that the United States says are leading producers of illicit drugs and transit hubs. The list was part of a report to Congress released two months ago, in which Myanmar was said to have "failed demonstrably in the past 12 months to make any meaningful effort to adhere to their obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements".

But such allegations will not necessarily attract sanctions, unless the president executes "a national interest waiver of the designation when he determines there is a vital national interest in continuing US assistance", the State Department said in a statement.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT