UN reports 'alarming' rise in Myanmar's cultivation of opium poppies

Shan State, Myanmar - March 2002 1. Aerial of area in Shan State 2. Various of opium poppies 3. Wide of poppies and people gathered nearby Bangkok, Thailand - 11 October 2007 4. Wide of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) news conference 5. Close-up of person in audience 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shariq Bin Raza, UNODC Myanmar Country Office: "The last 6 years it has been fairly encouraging; this year there is an increase and what we are trying to point out is a kind of worry, a concern, not a big alarm but a small alarm, that if we could arrest this increase next year the trend perhaps will be maintained." Shan State, Myanmar - January 2000 7. Various of soldiers and villagers slashing down poppy fields in Shan State, near the Thai border 8. Various of soldiers from the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an armed group that controls parts of Shan State Bangkok, Thailand - 11 October 2007 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shariq Bin Raza, UNODC Myanmar Country Office: "Possible collusion, at what levels? It should be fairly, at some high levels. Corruption which could be widespread, and this is what UNODC intends to take up with the concerned authorities." Shan State, Myanmar - March 2002 10. Various of tea plantation in Shan State, introduced to replace opium poppies STORYLINE Opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar rose alarmingly in 2006 after six years of dramatic declines, driven in part by corruption and the lack of government control in areas where insurgent groups operate, according to the United Nations. The amount of land being cultivated to grow opium poppies in Myanmar decreased from about 130-thousand hectares (321,230 acres) in 1998 to just 21,500 hectares (53,100 acres) in 2006 after the government joined neighbours Thailand and Laos in a campaign to eradicate the crop, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). However, UNODC said Myanmar's opium poppy cultivation rebounded by 29 percent in the past year to reach 27,700 hectares (68,450 acres). The United Nations office that monitors the situation has expressed concern over the figures as Myanmar's share of the world opium market has fallen consistently until now; from 63 percent in 1996 to just six percent last year. "The last 6 years it has been fairly encouraging; this year there is an increase and what we are trying to point out is a kind of worry, a concern, not a big alarm but a small alarm, that if we could arrest this increase next year the trend perhaps will be maintained," said Shariq Bin Raza, from the UNODC's Myanmar Office at a news conference in the Thai capital, Bangkok on Thursday. The UN puts the unexpected rise down to a number of factors including high-level collusion and corruption, though officials declined to say exactly who they believe is profiting. They also blame a lack of stability in the areas along the Thai border where the poppies are being grown. The majority of the fields are concentrated in states along eastern Myanmar's borders with China and Thailand, where ethnic insurgents hold sway; those groups may be using opium sales to purchase weapons. A diverse number of armed groups hold sway there and are largely outside the control of the central government, though the largest and most feared of them - the United Wa State Army - appear to be sticking to their pledge to give up cultivation. In 1999 Myanmar announced a 15 year programme to eradicate opium poppies, spearheaded by troops who slashed down the fields that had sustained the local population for generations. Though the 2007 figures show a 29 percent growth in opium poppy cultivation, Myanmar's is still a long way behind the output of the world's largest producer, Afghanistan. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6688e15393d38b19ddc1a294b38b0518 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork