An ethnic activist group has rejected a UN report that suggests armed Myanmese tribes along the border with China are behind a resurgence in opium production, saying the report underplays the junta's role in the trade.
The most recent UN drugs report on Myanmar, dated December 2009, says that poppy cultivation has increased 11 per cent over the past year, and almost 50 per cent since 2006. It says more than one million people are now involved in opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar, most of them in Shan state which shares borders with Thailand, Laos and China. It is here where 95 per cent of the country's poppy is reportedly grown.
The report partially relies on data and information supplied by the Myanmar government.
Releasing the report, Antonio Maria Costa, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime executive director, said there were indications 'that the ceasefire groups - the autonomous ethnic militias like the Wa and the Kachin - are selling drugs to buy weapons', but made no mention of the junta's alleged involvement with the trade. 'The survey found that opium poppy cultivation took place in areas controlled by insurgency and by ceasefire groups,' the UN report said. 'Peace and security is essential to reduce opium poppy cultivation in those areas.'
However the NGO, Palaung Women's Organisation, has released its own report called 'The Poisoned Land' that contradicts much of the UN's findings. Among them is the claim that much of the opium production remains under the control of the Palaung State Liberation Army.
