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The recently-released “Myanmar Opium Survey 2018” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) entails specific accusations against several of the conflict actors. This commentary explains how this further distorts, rather than reflects, the complex realities in Myanmar.
These commentaries are intended to contribute to a broader understanding to the many challenges facing the country and its peoples as a new parliament and government take office in 2016.
See the complete list of all the Myanmar commentaries.
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 Opium harvest in early 2019 in Pekhon Township, southern Shan State / Photo credit Transnational Institute.
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| A Distortion of Reality: Drugs, Conflict and the UNODC’s 2018 Myanmar Opium Survey |
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A Myanmar Commentary by TNI
5 March 2019
After decades of fighting between the central government and various ethnic armed organisations in Myanmar, the links between drugs and conflict have spiraled into a complex chain reaction. The roots of the conflict are political, but today very few of the conflict parties in drugs-producing areas can claim to have clean hands when it comes to the narcotics trade. Myanmar has been under military-dominated government since 1962, and it remains one of the most militarized countries in the world.
The recently-released “Myanmar Opium Survey 2018” by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) makes the following conclusion: “[In] parts of Shan and Kachin experiencing a protracted state of conflict, high concentrations of poppy cultivation have continued – a clear correlation between conflict and opium production.”1 There is nothing controversial in this statement, and the description reflects the situation in the field.
The UNODC, however, then goes on to make specific accusations against several of the conflict actors. In the process, the UN agency makes a number of errors and appears to omit important information, thereby distorting realities of the situation on the ground.
According to the UNODC: “[In] Kachin State, the highest density of poppy cultivation took place in areas under the control or influence of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA); in North Shan, in areas of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA); in South Shan, of the Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA), and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) Shan State Army South (SSA‐S); and in East Shan, the People Militia’s Force (PMF); with each engaged in conflicts of varying intensity and frequency.”
All of these statements are contentious and, in many respects, wrong. The main opium cultivation in Kachin State takes place in two areas. In Sadung Township bordering China, cultivation takes place in areas under the nominal authority of two Border Guard Forces (formerly the ceasefire New Democratic Army-Kachin) which, in turn, are under the command of the national armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw. The other main cultivation area is in the tiger reserve in Tanai Township, which is also under ostensible government control.
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