Myanmar. Opium farming takes root in Myanmar's war-wracked landscape
Myanmar. Opium farming takes root in Myanmar's war-wracked landscape
Pekon, Myanmar — Scraping opium resin off a seedpod in Myanmar's remote poppy fields, displaced farmer Aung Hla describes the narcotic crop as his only prospect in a country made barren by conflict.
The 35-year-old was a rice farmer when the junta seized power in a 2021 coup, adding pro-democracy guerillas to the long-running civil conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups.
Four years on, the United Nations has said Myanmar is mired in a "polycrisis" of mutually compounding conflict, poverty and environmental damage.
Aung Hla was forced off his land in Moe Bye village by fighting after the coup. When he resettled, his usual crops were no longer profitable, but the hardy poppy promised "just enough for a livelihood". (VOA – Voice of America, USA, 10.03.2025)
https://www.voanews.com/a/opium-farming-takes-root-in-myanmar-s-war-wracked-landscape/8004904.html