UN report on Myanmar opium crop criticized

Kachin Independence Army denies UNODC claims and says crops grown in government-controlled areas
Asia Times (Thailand)
Wednesday, March 6, 2019

The recently-released "Myanmar Opium Survey 2018" by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) distorts reality, accuses ethnic rebels who are not involved in the drugs trade for being responsible for the scourge while turning a blind eye to official complicity in the trade. That is the basic message in a commentary published by the Transnational Institute (TNI), a Dutch-based international research and advocacy group. After the Kachin rebels complained about the UNODC report, its Bangkok and Yangon offices issued a statement on February 27, which, however, did not address the main issue of wrongful identification of armed groups in the opium growing areas. (See also: UN opium survey distorts the facts, says think tank)