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Looking East in the war on
opium
By Gulnoza Saidazimova
PRAGUE - According to the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 4,200 tonnes of opium
were produced in Afghanistan in 2004, roughly 87%
of global production.
Slawomir Redo is an
UNODC official and author of the book Organized
Crime and Its Control in Central Asia.
Speaking not as a UN official but in his personal
capacity, Redo told RFE/RL that Central Asian
countries have been badly affected by Afghan
drugs.
"Central Asia is becoming one of
the major markets through which the illicit drugs
go or are being consumed by the local population.
So, there is a great threat for the region as such
that there will be an erosion of the social fabric
and obviously the state apparatus if this [trend]
continues," Redo said.
The countries of
the so-called Golden Triangle - Myanmar, Laos, and
Thailand - have a long history of fighting drug
smugglers. Experts say the Central Asian
governments can learn from their Southeast Asian
counterparts.
Niklas Swanstrom, a director
of Silk Road Studies at Sweden's Uppsala
University, is an expert on drugs and regional
cooperation. He tells RFE/RL that the first step
to combat trafficking is to seal borders, just as
the Golden Triangle's neighbor China has done.
"In case of Burma [Myanmar], it's simply
because its neighbors are closing the borders.
We've seen that drug trafficking in Burma has been
decreasing immensely. The Chinese are helping the
Burmese to stop drug traffickers, but that is
mainly bilateral measures. In Central Asia and
Afghanistan, we don't even see much of bilateral
tendencies," Swanstrom said.
Swanstrom
said even bilateral collaboration is not enough to
stop smugglers. He said that, given the
transnational character of drug trafficking, no
country can stop it without international and
regional cooperation. However, Swanstrom said the
Central Asian states have demonstrated limited
political will to cooperate. He said they partly
fear an infringement of sovereignty, but added
that in his opinion there are other reasons as
well.
"Between Afghanistan and the Central
Asian states, which are major transit countries,
and also Iran, we've seen on paper there is a lot
of collaboration. But in practice, there is very
little going on. And this is used by drug
traffickers. Some of the transit countries and, of
course, parts of the government in Afghanistan are
benefiting immensely from the [drug] trade because
they are involved in it, they are running it. Some
of the states, such as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,
and Afghanistan are benefiting from the drug trade
or at least segments of these societies, if not
all. [A] large part of the elite is benefiting and
[therefore] they have no interest in
collaboration," Swanstrom said.
In remarks
to RFE/RL, a spokesman for Tajikistan's Drug
Control Agency strongly rejected Swanstrom's
remarks. Avaz Yuldoshev said Tajikistan is making
every possible effort to combat drug trafficking.
According to UNODC, more and more drugs
are being seized in Central Asia, with some eight
tonnes seized in 2003 alone. Half of those were
confiscated by the Tajik Drug Control Agency on
the Tajik-Afghan border. Experts say that's a
reflection of where most drugs are going.
According to some data, only 5% of drugs
smuggled in Central Asia are seized. But Redo said
the establishment of the Tajik agency is a good
start. "So, this speaks about the need to increase
capacity of the governments in other Central Asian
countries," he said. "The example of the Tajik
Drug Control Agency, which is assisted by member
states of the United Nations with funding and
operations, is now followed by Kyrgyzstan. It is a
good example and the way to go."
Redo said
another way of tackling opium production is
through the development of alternative crops,
which can create sustainable livelihoods. That
method has proved effective in the Golden
Triangle. He cited a UN-supported program by the
Thai king and queen in the 1970s. It encouraged
farmers to grow coffee rather than drugs.
"[The] case of Thailand is probably the
best case with the Queen Mother's project that was
also assisted by the UNODC. [It proves that]
alternative development works. It means that in
other countries like Central Asia this is
possible. But [the Central Asian] countries and
our programs are not that far. At this moment, we
are talking about law-enforcement activities and
strengthening the borders of the Central Asian
republics," Redo said.
Under the Taliban,
Afghan opium production was slashed by up to 85%.
But since the fall of the Islamic hard-liners in
2001, poppy cultivation has soared to levels that
now make Afghanistan the world's leading opium
producer. Poverty and lack of alternatives are the
main reasons Afghans grow poppies, which is one of
the most profitable businesses in the region.
But a new program launched in December
seeks to help Afghan farmers find a new crop. The
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
Germany have pledged contracts worth 3.3 million
euros (US$4.3 million) to refurbish Afghan sugar
refineries.
Swanstrom said this is a rare
example of concrete assistance from the West. "One
thing I've been criticizing the West for is a lack
of will not only from Central Asians and Afghanis
but also lack of the will from the West," he said.
"We give aid to those regions without any focus on
actually combating drugs. What we should do is to
help states like Uzbekistan to combat drugs
because the consequences of drugs - like HIV
addiction, etc - are going to hurt every
individual. That, in turn, is going to cost even
more resources."
One in 10 Afghans is
believed to be directly involved in drug
production. Proceeds are estimated at $2.8
billion, or 60% of the country's yearly economic
output.
Copyright (c) 2004, RFE/RL Inc.
Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW,
Washington DC 20036 |
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