Myanmar becomes world’s biggest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan

December 12, 2023 Current News Articles

Agence France-Presse

Myanmar became the world’s biggest producer of opium in 2023, overtaking Afghanistan after the Taliban government’s crackdown on the trade, according to a United Nations report.

Myanmar produced an estimated 1,080 metric tonnes of opium – essential for producing heroin – this year, according to the latest report by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The figures come after opium production in Afghanistan slumped an estimated 95% to about 330 tonnes after the Taliban’s ban on poppy cultivation in April last year, according to UNODC.

The “Golden Triangle” border region between Myanmar, Laos and Thailand has long been a hotbed of illegal drug production and trafficking, particularly of methamphetamine and opium.

The total estimated value of Myanmar’s “opiate economy” rose to between $1bn and $2.4bn – the equivalent of 1.7% to 4.1% of the country’s 2022 GDP, the UNODC said.

Last year, an estimated 790 metric tonnes of opium was produced in Myanmar, it said.

Myanmar’s legal economy has been gutted by conflict and instability since the military seized power in 2021, driving many farmers to grow poppy.

Poor access to markets and state infrastructure as well as rampant inflation “appears to have played a significant role in farmers’ decisions in late 2022 to cultivate more poppy”, the report said.

UNODC said poppy cultivation in Myanmar was becoming more sophisticated, with increased investment and better practices – including improved irrigation and possible use of fertilisers – pushing up crop yields.

Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer for some years, has seen cultivation collapse after the Taliban authorities vowed to end illegal drug production.

Poppy crops accounted for almost a third of the country’s total agricultural production by value last year, but the area used for poppy shrank from 233,000 hectares in late 2022 to 10,800 in 2023.

In Myanmar, the main cultivating area is Shan state, the northern part of which has been convulsed by fighting in recent weeks after an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups launched an offensive against the junta and its allies.

Shan state occupies almost a quarter of Myanmar’s land mass and is dotted with ravines and jungle-clad hills.

An array of ethnic armed organisations that can call on tens of thousands of well-armed fighters control swathes of the state, which the UN says is also south-east Asia’s primary source of methamphetamine.

Some administer autonomous enclaves granted to them by previous juntas, which analysts say are home to casinos, brothels and weapons factories.

The UN said cultivation had also increased in northern Kachin state and in Chin state on the border with India.

Analysts say the military, which ousted an elected government and seized power in 2021, is not serious about ending the multi-billion dollar trade. In a rare admission earlier this year, the head of Myanmar’s Central Committee on Drug Abuse Control said its efforts to crush the trade were having no impact.

Attack on Pakistani Security Post Near Afghanistan Kills 23 Soldiers

December 12, 2023 Current News Articles

By Salman Masood and Zia ur-Rehman

Reporting from Islamabad, Pakistan

The New York Times

Dec. 12, 2023

Twenty-three soldiers were killed in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday when heavily armed militants attacked a security post in one of the deadliest assaults on the country’s security forces in recent years, officials said.

The pre-dawn raid occurred on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which borders Afghanistan and has been plagued by militancy and terrorist attacks since the Afghan Taliban took power in the neighboring country two years ago.

The militants initiated the attack by ramming an explosive-laden vehicle into the compound’s outer perimeter, beside a police station, causing a building to collapse and leading to numerous casualties, the Pakistani military said in a statement. After a fierce gun battle, all six attackers were killed, it said.

In a separate recent episode in the same district, a military operation against a militant hide-out resulted in the deaths of two soldiers and 21 militants, according to the military.

Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a relatively unknown militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack on the security post. The group’s spokesman, Mullah Muhammad Qasim, said on the Telegram messaging app that the assault had begun with a suicide attack and that other militants had then stormed the compound.

Tensions have been rising between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Pakistan accusing the Afghan Taliban of harboring the Pakistani Taliban. Violence in the border area has increased substantially since early October, when Pakistan announced a policy directing all undocumented foreigners to leave the country by Nov. 1, a move that has primarily affected Afghans.

Dera Ismail Khan and nearby districts have been hotbeds of terrorism for decades, and Dera Ismail Khan has experienced several recent attacks. On Nov. 3, a bombing targeted the local police, killing five people and injuring more than 20. Jabbar Ali, a police officer in the district, said the local force faced difficulties in fending off militants equipped with advanced weapons, including night-vision gear abandoned by the United States military during its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

In May, Pakistani law enforcement agencies killed a key commander of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, another militant group, in a shootout. The commander, Iqbal, also known as Bali Kiara, had been involved in several high-profile attacks on security forces in Dera Ismail Khan and neighboring districts, and carried a bounty on his head of about $35,000, according to the police.

T.J.P., the militant group that said it was behind Tuesday’s attack on the security post, gained prominence in February after claiming responsibility for a soldier’s death on the Afghan border. It has since primarily targeted Pakistan’s military.

Pakistani security officials believe that the organization serves as a cover for other groups, lowering pressure on the Taliban government in Afghanistan to expel Pakistani militants who belong to those groups.

Military experts described the timing of Tuesday’s attack as strategic, given that it aligned with Pakistan’s deteriorating relations with Afghanistan, the crackdown on undocumented Afghans, and the first official visit to the United States by Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Syed Asim Munir, who is holding talks with American military officials.

“The T.J.P. is a front organization of the T.T.P., and the T.T.P. takes direction from the Taliban regime in Kabul,” Asfandyar Mir, a senior analyst at the United States Institute of Peace, a Washington-based think tank, said of the two groups.

“For that reason, Pakistan has increased pressure to coerce the Taliban into reconsidering their support for the T.T.P.,” he said, adding that the attack on the security post might be retaliation by the Taliban “in an attempt to get Pakistan to back off.”

UN: Taliban Must Embrace, Uphold Human Rights Obligations in Afghanistan

December 12, 2023 Current News Articles

Associated Press

December 10th, 2023, 4:31 PM

The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the U.N. mission in the country said Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation.

The U.N. mission, highlighting the Taliban’s failures in upholding rights’ obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees’ rights.

People who speak out in defense of human rights face arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said.

“We pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders, many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: peace, justice and freedom,” said Fiona Frazer, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan.

The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said rights must be upheld to ensure the country’s future prosperity, cohesion and stability.

The U.S. on Friday hit two Taliban officials with sanctions over human rights abuses in Afghanistan. Fariduddin Mahmood made decisions to close education centers and schools to women and girls after the sixth grade, said the State Department. He supported education-related bans on women and girls.

The second target of the U.S. sanctions is Khalid Hanafi, from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

“Since August 2021, members of the MPVPV have engaged in serious human rights abuse, including abductions, whippings, and beatings,” said the State Department. “Members of the MPVPV have assaulted people protesting the restrictions on women’s activity, including access to education.”

The Taliban condemned the sanctions. Their chief spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said imposing pressure and restrictions were not the solution to any problem. He accused the U.S. of being the biggest violator of human rights because of its support for Israel.

“It is unjustified and illogical to accuse other people of violating human rights and then ban them,” said Mujahid.

The restrictions on women and girls are the biggest obstacle to the Taliban gaining official recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

US Sanctions Two Former Afghan Officials for Corruption

December 12, 2023 Current News Articles

Reuters and TOLOnews

12 Dec 2023

In its statement, the Treasury described several alleged schemes under which the Rahmanis enriched themselves.

The US Department of Treasury in a press release said on Monday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two former Afghan government officials — Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son, Ajmal Rahmani, collectively known as “the Rahmanis — for their extensive roles in transnational corruption, as well as 44 associated entities.”

According to the press release, “These individuals and entities are designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world. Through their Afghan companies, the Rahmanis perpetrated a complex procurement corruption scheme resulting in the misappropriation of millions of dollars from U.S. Government-funded contracts that supported Afghan security forces.”

Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son Ajmal Rahmani, nicknamed “Armored Ajmal” for his business selling bulletproof vehicles to the Kabul elite, served in parliament before the Afghan government collapsed in 2021 when U.S. forces withdrew and the Islamic Emirate took over.

“Through their Afghan companies, the Rahmanis perpetrated a complex procurement corruption scheme resulting in the misappropriation of millions of dollars from U.S. Government-funded contracts that supported Afghan security forces,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The sanctions, imposed one day after Human Rights Day, block U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those who engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.

The sanctions come under an executive order that builds on and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.

In its statement, the Treasury described several alleged schemes under which the Rahmanis enriched themselves.It accused them of rigging bids for contracts to provide fuel to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), artificially inflating prices.

“In 2014, several families involved in the fuel business, including the Rahmanis, colluded to drive up the price of fuel on U.S.-funded contracts by more than $200 million and eliminate competitor bids,” the Treasury Department said.
In another scheme, it accused them of fraudulently importing and selling tax free fuel and also of under-delivering fuel they were under contract to supply.

“After bribing their way into the Afghan Parliament, the Rahmanis used their official positions to perpetuate their corrupt system,” the Treasury added.

The Treasury also sanctioned 44 companies, 23 of them German, eight Cypriot, six Emirati, two Afghan, two Austrian, two Dutch and one Bulgarian.
Separately, the White House issued a proclamation expanding the U.S. government’s authority to limit the entry of foreigners involved in significant corruption as well as their family members.

The legal and economic analysts give various opinions in this regard.

“The order which the Americans issued about the family of Rahmani is not capable of addressing the issue through legal paths because the law in Afghanistan stipulates that a decree is implementable when the decree is issued on its territory,” said Zia Yousufi, a legal analyst.

“The financial mafia which was created by such corrupt [people] has influenced the political and military sectors such as parliament, executive institutions and even judicial systems, providing the grounds for such major corruption,” said Sayed Masoud, an economist.

The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the US itself supported such officials within the past 20-years in Afghanistan.

“This sanction is on two people who belong to the former administration of Kabul. It is linked to the US. In the past 20 years, the US supported those people who were corrupt and were seizing the money of the people of Afghanistan and even the US money through such actions,” he said.

Mir Rahmani and Ajmal Rahmani were in the parliament of Afghanistan but both left the country after the collapse of the republic government.

US Has Pursued Policy of Engagement With ‘Taliban’: West

December 12, 2023 Current News Articles

Mitra Majeedy

Tolo News

12 Dec 2023

Afghan Women’s Education Highlighted at Doha Forum

December 11, 2023 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

11 Dec 2023

The situation of human rights, including restrictions imposed on girls and women by the current authorities, have drawn international attention.

The UN special rapporteur for Afghan human rights, Richard Bennett stressed the importance of girls’ education in Afghanistan, saying that the Taliban have disagreements over the issue of girls education in Afghanistan.

Speaking to a panel in the Doha Forum, Bennett indicated the former Minister of Higher Education’s stance regarding female universities and said: “I remember having a meeting with the minister of higher education. This was a while back when women were still able to study at university and he had a kind of technical discussion with me. He said he didn’t contest whether or not women should study at university. It was an issue of how to do it in a segregated way and he said, ‘look, they had an internal discussion either they would have men for half the day or women for half the day so they don’t meet each other…’, he was removed a little bit after that a few months later,” Bennett said.

Meanwhile, the head of the Qatar-based Political Office, Suhail Shaheen, denied Bennett’s remarks, saying that the Islamic Emirate has ensured the rights of all citizens of Afghanistan.

“The Islamic Emirate has the support of the people. If it was not so, it would not be possible to stand against the 54 countries who were supporting the US in the invasion. Unfortunately, some people and sides are making untrue allegations either that it is the issue of education or other issues,” he said.

The international community has repeatedly voiced concerns over the violation of human rights in Afghanistan after the Islamic Emirate returned to power in August 2021. Amnesty International called for “continued advocacy for addressing the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan.”

The permanent representative of Afghanistan to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, said that they are trying to be the “voice of Afghanistan” in the human rights council.

“We are trying to convey the voice of the people, men and women of Afghanistan to this council,” he said.

The situation of human rights, including restrictions imposed on girls and women by the current authorities, have drawn international attention.

On Sunday, the US special envoy for Afghan human rights and women, Rina Amiri, speaking to a panel at the Doha Forum called for investment in the female education sector in Afghanistan, in a bid to provide the way for a modern and “inclusive Afghanistan.”

“Taliban” Should be Guided by What Afghans Want: Decker

December 11, 2023 Current News Articles

Mujeeb Rahman Awrang Stanikzai

Head of TOLOnews’ Online Department

11 Dec 2023

She said that despite the closure of the embassy in Kabul, all activities of the US mission for Afghanistan are functioning.

Karen Decker, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Mission to Afghanistan, urged the “Taliban” to be guided by what the Afghan people want, saying that the international community must also “listen to what the Afghan people say.”

In an interview with TOLOnews, on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Decker said that Afghanistan is the only country in the world that “does not allow girls to go to school.” She also said that the relationship to focus on is the relationship between the American and the Afghan people “which remains incredibly strong.”

Decker said the US is engaged with the “Taliban leaders on a range of issues in a very pragmatic way in order to talk to them about the issues like counter-narcotics, economic resilience and recovery as well as the release of Americans who are “wrongfully detained.”

She said that despite the closure of the embassy in Kabul, all activities of the US mission for Afghanistan are functioning.

“We do not have an embassy open in Kabul right now. I lead the embassy in exile based here in Qatar. But we still have all of the functions of an embassy,” she added, saying that a US team is also based in Kazakhstan.

“There is no checklist for recognition … I have already explained. That is not a process that has a list of requirements attached to it. We are going to continue to focus on helping the Afghan people. Part of that is supporting the Afghan women and girls on a range of issues,” Decker said.

The US top diplomat for Afghanistan highlighted the situation of Afghan women.
“I think we have to be honest about the fact that Afghan women cannot work, Afghan girls cannot study and that is unacceptable,” she added.

Decker said that the US is in talks with Pakistani officials to make sure the Afghans have every protection available to them under the law and are treated with dignity and respect.

UNSC Discuss Afghanistan’s Situation Behind Closed Doors

December 11, 2023 Current News Articles

Mitra Majeedy

Tolo News

11 Dec 2023

Meanwhile, political analysts and human rights activists are of the view that the policies of the Islamic Emirate are crucial for engagement with the world.

The United Nations Security Council held a closed-door meeting on Afghanistan.

In the meeting hosted by Switzerland, members of the council also discussed the assessment of the situation in Afghanistan conducted by Feridun Sinirlioğlu, special coordinator of the UN for Afghanistan.

Some Afghan women were also invited to the meeting.

“On December 11, security council members will hold a closed-door on the recommendation of the UN assessment on Afghanistan, this time there will be a few Afghan women in the room, but we are still concerned about the lack of transparency in this process. This is the third closed-door meeting, the first was briefing by the special coordinator, the second was a closed-door security council meeting,” said Heather Barr, director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.

But the Islamic Emirate says that Afghanistan should be seen as am opportunity and that countries should not stand against Afghanistan.
The spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate said that such meetings do not bring any hope for opening diplomatic doors.

“Displaying Afghanistan’s situation as worse than it is will not have a positive outcome. There is no hope that such meetings will open any diplomatic doors for Afghanistan,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.

In the meantime, political analysts and human rights activists are of the view that the policies of the Islamic Emirate are crucial for engagement with the world.

“The report of Feridun Sinirlioğlu was conducted based on a resolution of the UNSC. Now there is a follow up meeting on that. The important issue is that if women’s rights to education and work are protected in Afghanistan as in other Islamic countries, this will resolve most of the problems of the country,” said Tariq Farhadi, a political analyst.
“Other meetings were not fruitful, we hope that this will lead to the reopening of schools and universities for girls and respect for the rights of Afghan people,” said Tafseer Sia Posh, a women’s rights activist.

This comes as participants at the DOHA Forum discussed restrictions on girls’ education in Afghanistan and urged further investment on women’s education in the country.

Islamic Emirate to Iran FM: Govt is Inclusive

December 10, 2023 Current News Articles

TOLOnews

TV Network

10 Dec 2023

Amiri Urges Investment in Female Education in Afghanistan

December 10, 2023 Current News Articles

Mitra Majeedy

Tolo News

10 Dec 2023

Speaking at the same session, Roya Mahboob, Afghan businesswoman and entrepreneur, said that the people in Afghanistan want change.

The US special envoy for Afghan human rights and women, Rina Amiri, called for investment in the female education sector in Afghanistan, in a bid to provide the way for a modern and “inclusive Afghanistan.”

Speaking at a session at the Doha Forum, Amiri said: “It is a moral imperative and it is a strategic imperative. If we want Afghanistan to continue on the road to a modern and inclusive Afghanistan that is not a threat to itself or to its neighbors, invest in Afghanistan, invest in its education and its population, that is what we are collectively seeking to do,” she said.

Speaking at the same session, Roya Mahboob, Afghan businesswoman and entrepreneur, said that the people in Afghanistan want change.

“Many people, even during the Doha agreement, many … said that the Taliban has been changed, or they say that the people of Afghanistan, they don’t want this type of education. It wasn’t true. In the last two-years, we have seen that the protest that is happening either by women or either by men and it has happened everywhere of Afghanistan,” she said. “It is not only because they are in bigger cities. It seems that people want change… their mindset also changed about the women’s ability. They want their girls and their daughter be able to go school.”

Amiri said that the recognition of the “Taliban” has no link with the girls’ education.

“We use the term normalization not recognition. It is not simply a check-off of ‘give girls an education and you will be recognized,’ this is a process in which we are coordinating with the rest of the international community and there is much to be done for the Taliban to get that type of normalization that they seek,” she said.

But the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, stressed that human rights are ensured in the country, saying that such meetings are highlighting the negative points in Afghanistan.

“The issue of Afghanistan belongs to the Afghans inside the country. We don’t accept any ‘policy’ from abroad nor the suggestion. We want to have practical actions inside the country,” Mujahid said.

Some of the participants meanwhile called the presence of the Islamic Emirate’s delegation important in the meetings on Afghanistan in a bid to pave the way for a solution.

“Not only do we have to invite them, but we also have to be willing and courageous enough to go sit with them in Kabul,” said Rangina Hameedi, former education minister.

The meeting on the Reconstruction of Education for Women in Afghanistan in Doha comes as girl students above grade six have been deprived of schooling for more than 810 days since the Islamic Emirate swept into power.

Agence France-Presse

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