Asia Tribune
Date : 2003-08-26

Burmese military regime is the problem, and not the solution

By Zin Linn

It was on August 20 2003, the Work Committee for Development of Border Areas and National Races held its coordination meeting No 4/2003 at the Ministry of Progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs in Rangoon, with a speech by Chairman of the Work Committee Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development Council General Khin Nyunt.

In his speech, General Khin Nyunt said, '' Some big nations of the west bloc who would not like to see the prosperity and affluence of the nation instigated the unscrupulous persons and tried to put the nation under their influence, disrupting the stability and peace and imposing sanctions against the nation politically, economically and socially. However much the external elements put pressure on Myanmar, people will have to exert efforts to the best of their abilities in the interests of the nation and the people through diligence and unity.''

He also said that in line with the objective, to put an ultimate end to poppy cultivation and production with the introduction of alternative economic opportunities, the State is rendering assistance to national races residing in the border areas for the establishment of businesses based on agriculture. Up to the present day, the State spent more than K 1,215 million on the construction of 31 agricultural offices, 115 farming camps, 40 dams, 17 dam projects already surveyed, 4 canals and 11 tractor stations. Reclamation of vacant and virgin lands and highlands in border areas are also undertaken and the agricultural sector of border areas is now on the path of development.

'' As a result, local nationalities have given up cultivation and production of poppy on which they previously relied, and they have been able to do other businesses based on agriculture. Success has been achieved in poppy-substitute cultivation projects in the regions where poppy was previously grown. Moreover, poppy-substitute crops are also thriving in Wa, Panhsan, Mongmaw, Namtit, Wanghon, Tachilek, Kokang and Panwa regions,'' said Gen.Khin Nyunt.

According to the narcotic drugs elimination project, he said, the State is implementing the 15-year plan as a national duty and has made remarkable progress. The New Destiny Project aimed at the total eradication of narcotic drugs is being implemented.

Coincidentally, on that same day of August 20, nine Wa militiamen were killed and 500,000 methamphetamine pills confiscated after the 30-minute gunfight near Huay Sala Village, in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district in Thailand. No one from Thai side was injured. According to news item the clash took place at 5:30am on August 20, at a sting operation where the undercover police struck a deal with smugglers to deliver 1 million pills in exchange for Bt16 million.

According to DEA (The Drug Enforcement Administration) and foreign law enforcement entities,the United Wa State Army (UWSA) is the single largest heroin and methamphetamine producing organization in Southeast Asia. While not a designated foreign terrorist organization, the UWSA cultivates, manufactures, transports and distributes massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine from its base in the northeastern Shan State of Burma to international markets including Thailand, Hong Kong, China, Australia, Canada and the United States. In the early 1990's, the UWSA signed a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese junta and was given virtual autonomy over the region under their control. Essentially, the UWSA is a government within a government, primarily funded by drug trafficking activities.

In the Asiaweek news magazine issue of 11 February 2000, Anthony Davis reported that in the Mong Yawn valley opposite Thailand's Mae Ai district, the Wa are engaged in a massive construction program, building roads, dams, an electricity-generating plant, underground fuel-storage facilities, military command posts, barracks, schools and a hospital. Ironically, most of the work in building up the Wa base has been done by up to 6,000 Thai labourers employed by Thai companies contracted by the Wa. In the last two years, a newer settlement about 6 km from the border opposite Chiang Rai province has been built by southern Wa boss Wei Xuegang. Wei's credentials as a Wa freedom fighter are not impressive. An ethnic Chinese drug dealer formerly working with Khun Sa, Wei was indicted in 1993 by a U.S. court and carries a $2-million price on his head. Despite his business interests in Keng Tung and Tachilek, the Burmese junta has for years claimed no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Last January, a leading Thai politician excoriated the United Nations drug agency and the Thai government for ignoring the narcotics production of the pro-Rangoon ethnic militia, the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

“The UN has never talked about methamphetamines. I believe there is a conspiracy among various parties to protect this drug program in the name of national reconciliation efforts with Burma,” said Senator Kraisak Choonhavan.

The Senator suggested that by turning a “blind eye” to Wa drug production and trafficking, the United Nations Drug Control Program is condoning the activities of the Wa army, which include the eviction of local Shan villagers from their homeland.

After the August 20 bloody gunfight at Huay Sala Village, Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra threatened to send troops into Burma to do away with drug factories if the drug problem has been fallen into a state of neglect by the Burmese junta. Thaksin said that if the Burmese junta got no time to take out these illicit plants, Thai government would go there and do the job by itself.

He said Wa troops were producing methamphetamine pills about 20 kilometres from the Thai border and that the Burmese junta had been told about the plants' locations.

"We must not allow our country to be invaded anymore. We have been talking for a long time about this issue," the Thai Premier said,'' The Thai government would deal with the issue itself."

Thaksin said he had asked the Foreign Ministry to send a letter to the Burmese regime demanding that they should not cover up the illicit activities of the Wa militia. The prime minister lashed out at the Wa and declared Thai troops would shoot to kill. Drugs from the Wa region have gradually killed Thai children and that's why he won't spare the Wa drug-traffickers, Thaksin said. The premier dismissed suggestions that military action against the Wa militia would strain ties with Burmese military regime.

The United States has listed Burma as a nation that has "failed demonstrably" during the past year to meet their obligations under international counter-narcotics agreements. According to the 2003 presidential determination released on January 31, Burma remains "the world's number one producer and trafficker of methamphetamine and the world's second largest producer and trafficker of heroin." Although saying there was progress on some counter-narcotics fronts, the report said that drug gangs operated freely along the Burmese border with China and Thailand, and that the most important trafficking organization within its borders, the United Wa State Army, has yet to be curbed.

Dr. Thaung Htun, Representative for UN Affairs of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the Burmese government in exile formed by the elected representatives of the 1990 general elections, said, "We are keen to see a coordinated international effort to eradicate drugs. And, as Burmese, we feel responsible for the destruction of millions of young lives by opium and heroin originating from Burma. But, we are really sceptical about the seriousness of the regime, which is well known for its collaboration with drug traffickers. The total amount of opium/heroin seized last year was less than one percent of Burma's estimated output, which is about 2,365 metric tons opium in 1997.

The fact is the Burmese military regime is "the problem, and not the solution."