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SOS: Myanmar tops opium production
During the two-day meeting, the ASEAN foreign ministers overlooked the real and present danger arising from Myanmar in the form of opium trade and trafficking.
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A man harvests opium outside Loikaw, Kayah State, Myanmar, Nov. 30, 2016 (Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun)
I
t is terrible that ASEAN foreign ministers seemed to waste the opportunity of their just-concluded meeting to discuss the United Nations’ shocking finding that Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world's largest opium producer. This horrifying discovery means ASEAN is facing a serious threat in its backyard.
Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith hosted his ASEAN peers for the first time under the country’s chairmanship of the grouping in Luang Prabang, which concluded on Monday. Myanmar’s military junta was allowed to send a senior official to the retreat after the ASEAN foreign ministers rejected the participation of Myanmar's foreign minister.
ASEAN barred the military junta from attending any ASEAN official meeting after they showed no respect for the Five-Point Consensus to end the crisis in Myanmar following the coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi three years ago.
ASEAN leaders have also suspended indefinitely Myanmar's turn to chair the regional grouping in 2026 and given it to the Philippines instead.
During the two-day meeting, the ASEAN foreign ministers overlooked the real and present danger arising from Myanmar in the form of opium trade and trafficking. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported last month that the economic and political crisis that followed the 2021 coup and the widening conflict between the military and armed groups have driven farmers toward illicit opium poppy production to make a living.
The illicit business allegedly involves not only common criminals but also the military and members of the opposition coalition, the National Unity of Government (NUG).
UNODC confirmed opium cultivation in the country had increased by more than 7,000 hectares compared with last year. Production has also risen, with 36 percent more than the 2022 estimate.
