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| EU Funds Afghan Opium Battle |
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Posted by FoM on April 05, 2002 at 20:05:38 PT By Richard Norton-Taylor & Andrew Osborn Source: Guardian Unlimited 
An ambitious programme designed to destroy Afghanistan's opium crop, the source of 90% of the heroin reaching Britain's streets, will be launched on Monday with the support of the European Union and the US. Hamid Karzai's interim administration agreed unanimously this week to a decree that offers Afghan farmers £175 for every jerib (about 2sq km) of opium poppies they destroy. "The holy religion of Islam is categorical about the evil impact of drugs," says the decree. "We are determined to eradicate the current poppy crop". The European commission announced yesterday that it would give £17.5m to help regions dependent on poppy production find alternative sources of income. Chris Patten, the EU's external affairs commissioner, said in Brussels: "In recent years the overwhelming majority of the opium-related drugs on Europe's streets has come from Afghanistan, where they devastate young lives and fund organised crime. Beating drugs helps beat terrorism and will help Afghans have a brighter future." Senior Foreign Office officials described the Afghan decree as a brave step, but one that would succeed only with the moral and financial help of the international community. The Taliban regime banned poppy cultivation in 2000. The ban was reimposed by the Karzai administration in January, but it was too late for this year's crop, which will be ready for picking in the next few weeks. The UN development programme estimates that up to 600sq kms are under cultivation, producing up to 2,700 tonnes of opium, enough to make 270 tonnes of heroin. Farmers who refuse to destroy their crop of opium poppies will have their land confiscated and be prosecuted, the decree says. The Karzai administration has offered Afghan farmers and labourers who depend on the opium crop work on projects such as road-building and irrigation. British officials admitted yesterday that the poppy eradication would inevitably lead to some "extremely unhappy people". Poppy growers rely on drug traffickers for loans which they pay back through their harvest. "Usury is strictly forbidden by our holy religion and should have no place in an Islamic society," the decree says. It says that international experts are being consulted to set up a new system to enable farmers to obtain "reliable credit". Special Report: Drugs in Britain: http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/0,2759,178206,00.html Source: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK) Related Articles: Afghanistan to Pay Farmers for Uprooted Poppies U.S. Fears Afghan Farmers Can't End Cash Crop Military Opposes Spraying Poppies Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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