Palaung Women’s Organization Condemns the Government for Not Dealing with Drug Issues in Burma

In 2013, there has been a massive increase in opium cultivation and production of amphetamines in Northern Shan State in Burma, specifically in the villages of Muse, Namkhan, Mantong and Kutkai township. The government is not only allowing his cronies to cultivate opium, it is also protecting them.

On the morning of April 8th, 2013 from around 4-6am, serious fighting occurred between the Burmese military troops and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) at the Pan Say area. Pan Say militia troops had been cultivating opium and producing amphetamines there. The TNLA destroyed opium fields as well as three amphetamine production camps owned by Pan Say militia troops. This caused the Pan Say militia troops to collaborate with the Burmese military and fight against the TNLA. The government has not taken serious action to eliminate drugs–instead, it protects the drug cultivators.

There are many opium cultivation areas in the Palaung area. Most opium is cultivated in Ho Ton, Sai Lein, Lwae Saung, Lwae Khan, Vaw Ho Kyan, Kyae Kaung, Pankar, Lwae Kan, Nar Pansay, Mai Wee, Manpu, Tarkwan, Li hsaw (Lwae Lwan), Tan Pan Khone and Shauk Pan Khone villages from Namkham Townhsip. Most cultivation areas in Kutkai are under the control of the Kaung Khar militia troops.

The TNLA is eliminating opium cultivations and amphetamine production sites in Palaung areas but they cannot provide an alternative crop for Palaung communities to grow. Most people in the Palaung community face economic hardship due, According to one Palaung woman, “we aren’t cultivating opium for big markets like Chinese business men. We don’t want to grow opium but we do not have anything else and we need to survive. If tea and paddy prices continue to be expensive and if other commodity prices aren’t increasing, we will not grow and cultivate opium. If you grow opium, you have to bribe the police and authorities. You have to pay high fines in the beginning for opium plants. Then you have to bribe authorities to make sure they do not destroy your plants. Then you have to pay them again at harvest time. The TNLA came to destroy poppy fields and I was upset because we don’t have anything else for daily survival. The TNLA cannot solve these problems.”

The most famous drug lord in the Pan Say areas in Namkhan Township is U Kyaw Myint (also known as U Win Maung and Li Yongqiang has been cultivating and controlling opium and amphetamine production in the Palaung area for centuries and has never been charged. Now he is sitting in Parliament as a member of the USDP lead by the Thein Sein government and is a representative of the Pan Say areas in Namkham township. And also T. Hkun Myat (Jeffrey) and U Myint Lwin from Kutkai Township, Keng Mai from Muse, U Htaw, Haw Laosang from Kunlong, Pei Hsauk Chen from Laogai and others have controlled cultivation and the selling of opium and amphetamines according to a report by the Shan Drug Watch (Druglords in Parliment). The report also named drug lords in Parliament and gave details.

PWO has published reports on the drug issue in the Palaung area–Poisoned Hills, Poisoned Flowers and Still Poisoned. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report–South-East Asia Opium Survey 2012, Lao PDR, Myanmar–showed that opium cultivation increased in Burma from 43,600 hectares to 51,000 hectares in 2012, about a 17% increase, despite the fact that the Government said they eradicated 23,717 hectares. Drug cultivation and production of amphetamines has increased every year despite the Government’s claims to eradicate the drug issue. In order to solve this problem, PWO recommends:

1. The Government should seek a political solution for peace.
2. The Government must stop the civil war in ethnic areas and withdraw military troops and seek a genuine ceasefire agreement for national reconciliation.
3. The government should take action of a member of militia and a member of the representative in the parliament who are trading and cultivating the drug.
4. The government should provide a substitute crop in ethnic areas where they eradicate drugs.
5. The UNODC and UN Security Council should take action and place Burma on their official agendas.

Information Documentation and Research Department
Palaung Women’s Organization
Contact Persons:
Lway Nway Hnoung – 0821648115
Lway Poe Ngeal – 0863952087