PR 240508 E, Berlin, 24 May 2008
Poppy eradication strengthening the Taliban, experts agree
Eradication efforts that “fail to hold out alternative livelihoods for Afghan farmers are only strengthening support for the Taliban” in the most unstable provinces of Afghanistan, argues a NATO Parliamentary Assembly report presented by British MP Hugh Bayley today (Saturday) at the Assembly’s Spring Session in Berlin. “The opium trade is fuelling insurgency, and insurgency, in turn, is driving up opium production”, explained Mr Bayley to the members of the Assembly’s Economics and Security Committee. “There is a growing agreement among experts that simple eradication and interdiction will not break this vicious cycle”. In addition, militarization of the counter-narcotic effort could result in additional civilian casualties and alienate local Afghan leaders who provide Alliance forces with intelligence on the Taliban.
Mr Bailey’s comments were echoed by Douglas Bereuter, President of the Asia Foundation, an American NGO supporting several governance, civil society and education projects in Afghanistan. “Poppy eradication efforts to date have had mixed results”, said Mr Bereuter, a former US Congressman and NATO PA President, “with security and local cooperation being major hurdles; meanwhile, potential earnings from poppy cultivation continue to be far higher than the alternative livelihood options presented by the government”.
Mr Bayley was also sceptical about the feasibility of other approaches, such as legalising the opium trade through direct purchase of poppies for the production of painkilling medicines, as the demand for such drugs would not match the production. Instead, his report called for a greater focus on rural development strategies. Experiences in Thailand and Colombia indicate that eradication efforts can be successful only following the strengthening of police and state structures and the initiation of alternative crop projects. In Afghanistan, the need to ensure that farmers switching to alternative crops such as saffron or pistachios get safely to the markets also requires additional investment in state infrastructure.
In conclusion, Mr Bayley strongly encouraged legislators from both Afghanistan and Pakistan, present at the NATO PA Session, to push their respective governments to collaborate more on the narcotics problem, thus weakening the Taliban. Iran, which is also facing serious problems with illegal narcotics in its eastern region, could also be convinced to play a role in this struggle.
The NATO PA Spring Session, gathering some 340 national parliamentarians from the 26 NATO member countries, will meet for five days in Berlin in the Reichstag building, until May 27.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is an interparliamentary organization,
independent from NATO, which provides a link between NATO and the
parliaments of its member countries. The Assembly also brings together
legislators from NATO member and non-member countries to consider
security-related issues of common interest and concern.
NATO PA PRESS SERVICE, BERLIN
Roberta Calorio
Media Relations Officer
Mobile: + 49 173 6381 399