India has been working on plans of building
economic corridors in Northeast India’s neighborhood to boost foreign trade and
to give the economy the much needed leap forward. Execution of these plans is
crucial to achieve the goals of India's Look-East policy. BUT, there is a GOLDEN TRIANGLE which is a
reason of concern.....letzz see what is it and why is it a reason to worry
about ?
What is the Golden Triangle ?
- Traditionally,
the Golden Triangle is a region between the borders of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand; a
famous region for its opium production.
- According
to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) latest Southeast
Asia Opium Survey 2013, opium cultivation in the Golden Triangle went
up by 22 per cent in 2013 propelled by a 13 per cent growth in
Myanmar.
- This
registered a 26 per cent rise from 2012 in opium cultivation and
yield.
- A
decade ago, the Golden Triangle supplied half the world’s heroin, but drug
barons backed by ethnic militias in Myanmar have turned to trafficking
massive quantities of amphetamines
and methamphetamines – “which can be
produced cheaply in small, hidden laboratories, without the need for acres
of exposed land” and these narcotics now dominate the Myanmar
part of the Triangle.
- Insurgencies
in Myanmar have been funded by narcotics trafficking.
- Cease-fires
with the civilian government of Myanmar have left rebel groups free to
continue their manufacturing and smuggling without interference.
- Since
insurgencies based on purely ethnic issues are on the way out, high
profits and access to the lucrative Thai and foreign markets now drive
narcotics production and trafficking.
- The
Myanmar government can do little to counter drug trafficking in the Golden
Triangle as traffickers are well organized Chinese syndicates operating
from outside Myanmar.
Peeping into the history of Opium Wars !
- The history of opium in this
region is lengthy and very complex. Opium poppies appear to
be native to the Golden Triangle region, although opium's history is so
long that it is a bit difficult to pin down the origins of the plant.
However, opium was not widely used as a recreational drug in Southeast
Asia until the infamous Opium Wars of the 1800s.
- In the 1800s,
British traders in Southeast Asia had to meet a high demand for Chinese
and Asian goods in Europe. People wanted china, silk, and a wide variety
of other exports, but the Chinese had little interest in British goods,
forcing traders to pay in hard currency, rather than in trade. This
arrangement was not satisfactory to many traders, so the British
started smuggling opium
into India and China, with the goal of getting people addicted to the
substance to generate large amounts of cash.(yeh
gandagi bhi unhone failaayi !!! )
- In China, the government was not
happy with this state of affairs, and it attempted to enforce its drug
laws, sparking the Opium Wars. Ultimately, the British were able to force
the Chinese to cede territory and open its borders to trade, and many
other colonial nations followed suit, much to the frustration of the
Chinese government. The Opium Wars led to increased demand for and
production of opium in the region, setting
the stage for the growth of the Golden Triangle.
- In the 1950s, nations in the
Golden Crescent, which includes Afghanistan and Pakistan, started cracking
down on opium production. In response, production moved to Thailand, Laos,
Myanmar, and Vietnam, a region that came to be known as the “Golden
Triangle” in a reference to the massive opium profits which flooded the
area. Growth of the opium industry in the region proved explosive, and
drug traffickers also started processing the opium to make heroin and
other derivatives, with the goal of making drug production even more
profitable.
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What is the Golden Crescent ?
- The Golden Crescent is the name given
to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production (with the other being the Golden Triangle),
located at the crossroads of Central, South, and Western
Asia.
- This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, whose
mountainous peripheries define the crescent, though only Afghanistan and
Pakistan produce opium, with Iran
being a consumer and trans-shipment route for the smuggled opiates.
- The United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) heroin production
estimates for the past 10 years show significant changes in the primary
source areas.
- Heroin production in Southeast Asia declined dramatically, while heroin production
in Southwest Asia expanded.
- In 1991, Afghanistan became the world's primary
opium producer, with a yield of 1,782 metric tons (U.S.
State Department estimates), surpassing Myanmar,
formerly the world leader in opium production. The decrease in heroin
production from Myanmar is the result of several years of unfavorable
growing conditions and new government policies of forced eradication.
- Afghan heroin production increased during the same time
frame, with a notable decrease in 2001 allegedly as a result of the Taliban's fatwa against
heroin production.
- Afghanistan now produces over 90% of the world's non-pharmaceutical-grade opium.
- In addition toopiates, Afghanistan is also the world's largest producer
of hashish
What actually happens in the Golden Triangle across the
Myanmar - Thailand border ?
- Myanmar’s Wa ethnic group is the largest
producer of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS).
- The United Wa State Army (UWSA) is
sustained by narcotics money in addition to arms contraband.
- Increases in the use of methamphetamine in
Thailand have contributed to regional instability and Thailand’s National
Security Council now recognizes narcotics smuggling as a critical threat
to its national security.
- Thailand accuses Myanmar of unleashing
“narcotic aggression” on Thailand and with the stupendous increase of methamphetamine
production within Myanmar, drug trafficking into Thailand from Myanmar is
on the rise.
- Ethnic militias like the UWSA and Shan
State Army (SSA) control most of the 1800 km Myanmar border with Thailand
and corruption within the Thai security forces has abetted a thriving
narcotics trade.
- Within Myanmar, the UWSA has emerged as
the largest producer of methamphetamine. Mong Yawn, the drug base of the
UWSA in the Shan state in Myanmar, enjoys direct access to the Thai
province of Chiang Mai, emerging as one of the biggest drug boom towns
near the Myanmar-Thailand border.
- Methamphetamine smuggling from Myanmar
into Thailand by UWSA amounts to 200 million pills per year.
- Besides tackling border corruption within
its ranks, the Thai military has a dangerous task, challenged as it is by
the Shan and Wa armies complicit with narcotics crossing the border.
Role of China in this entire DRUG - AFFAIR
- The
former military junta in Myanmar had been at war with the
ethnic rebel groups of the Waand the Shans interspersed
with periodic ceasefires. The UWSA had earlier supported theTatmadaw (Burmese
military) but later retreated to the northern part of Shan state. TheTatmadaw also
propped up several ethnic militias as a check against the ceasefire
rebels. These various ethnic armed groups struck deals amongst themselves
to facilitate the profitable narcotic trade.
- China’s
Yunnan province has a 1997-km border with Myanmar and narcotics have
adversely affected many Chinese border villages. Previously heroin use
made Yunnan suffer the highest HIV rate of any Chinese province or
autonomous region. Ruili, the border town in Yunnan, suffers from
two-thirds of drug users infected with HIV due to sharing contaminated
injections. This situation is further aggravated by the presence of guns
and a heightened risk of border related violence.
- In
2000, taking advantage of the ongoing conflicts in Shan state in Myanmar,
China persuaded the ethnic Wa to relocate with
their drug production units from the Myanmar-China border to
the Myanmar-Thailand border (See Figure ). The UWSA,
aided by the Tatmadaw, had wrested the new acquired territory
from the control of the SSA of Khun Sa, the opium warlord and
‘King’ of the Golden Triangle. This move reduced drug trafficking
into China and at the same time dumped the problem on Thailand. China
armed the Wa with weapons and supplied money. In return
the Wa would control the entrance and exit regions of
Shan state and ‘help’ the Chinese in constructing roads through the
territory giving China the much desired access to the Myanmar coast.
The Tatmadaw also formed an alliance with the UWSA to
first defeat the Shans and second to serve as proxies in fighting the Thai
army at the border.
India a Partner in crime ?
India has played an unhappy part in the drug trade for decades.
Squeezed between the notorious Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent, India is an
important conduit for drugs from Asia to Europe, Africa and the Americas.
LIKELY CONSEQUENCE on NORTH- EAST INDIA with India's Look East
Policy
Illicit drug trade along the Golden Triangle
has serious implications for Northeast India.
- First, opening up to Southeast Asia
carries a double edged sword. On one hand, it promises development and
investments. On the other hand, it invites the danger of rapid flow of
illicit drugs and arms.
- Second, without effective drug control
mechanisms that guarantee that illicit trade is kept to the minimum, the
adverse consequences of illicit drugs on Northeast society could leave
long term negative effects.
- Third, India should establish
institutional mechanisms with China, Myanmar and Thailand to
counter-illicit trafficking.
- Finally, there must be a long term
Indian strategy to limit drugs trafficking, address the social impact of
drug addiction, spread the word about the ill effects of drug abuse in
schools, and established efficient rehabilitation centres in the HIV and
drug zones in Northeast India. There is perhaps no other way to address
the life threatening effects of drug addiction and HIV, currently destroying
youths in Northeast India especially Manipur.
