Interview with Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the Vienna-based UNODC

As the impact of the illicit and fast-expanding opium economy is felt in Afghanistan and the neighbouring region, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime explained to IRIN the severity of the problem. Costa highlighted many of the threats posed by the opium economy and emphasised that despite any short-term benefits for individual farmers, opium is a curse and "the flower of death". QUESTION: How serious is the drugs problem in Afghanistan? ANSWER: Extremely serious, and I salute the determination of President Karzai and his honesty when he called it a national security problem. I believe that is the right way of putting it. It is indeed a threat that can undo many of the accomplishments of the recent past. The constitution and the process towards elections and everything else, if indeed the problem is not brought under control both in terms of the criminal activities in the economy but also the funding of terrorism by the resources generated by narcotic trafficking, could undermine the stability of the country. Q: What about the impact regionally and globally? A: The impact is particularly severe in neighbouring countries. Iran has 3.5 million drug addicts - the highest rate in the world, and a high percentage of these drug addicts are affected by HIV. The addiction rate in Central Asia is about one percent. We are approaching numbers which are starting to be not only significant, although they are small countries, but very dangerous in terms of public health. In Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan up to 90 percent of these addicts are HIV-positive, and 90 percent of new HIV cases [globally] are coming from that area. Pakistan has a serious drugs problem. So, infection as a consequence, a direct health consequence of the opium economy in Afghanistan is severe, felt in the neighbourhood and beyond. Heroin consumption in [Western] Europe is declining significantly. That's declining very fast. They have today one third of what they had four or five years ago in Western Europe, but the consumption is increasing in Eastern Europe and Russia and China. So much that the new markets are compensating for the lower markets in Western Europe. As a consequence the demand on Afghan opium keeps cruising at around 4000 mt [per annum]. Q: Is eradication working? A: We ran as usual in the fall a survey of farmers' intentions regarding the crops of this year. We visited over 1000 villages. We asked specific questions whether eradication was a determining factor. The answer was no. There is a reason and our experts pondered extensively on what was going on, and the answer is that eradication has to be credible and therefore has to reach a threshold of credibility. Last year and the year before three to four percent, possibly five percent, of the land cultivated with opium was eradicated. This is equivalent of having a three to four percent chance of being caught robbing a bank! Would you rob a bank? Perhaps not you, but many people would - it has to be credible- so we need a much bigger surface eradicated. Q: Is there a problem of corruption damaging the effectiveness of the eradication mechanisms in place? A: Certainly the corruption in this country, as much as in other countries, is a major lubricant for drug traffickers. It has a demand and a supply. Traffickers offer bribes to obtain certain advantages - perhaps access to ports, or airports or some routes. In other cases looking at the demand side, corrupted officials ask for bribes to arrange whatever is needed by the traffickers. It is a major problem and indeed counter-narcotics cannot be successful if only fought by counter-narcotics. We need a much broader array of instruments and weapons - in a democratic and civilian sense. DDR [Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration] is a key element. Unless we disarm these people who have been fighting for 20 years and engaged in violence, they are going to be recruited by the army of traffickers. Q: How long will it take? A: Well, I have no reason to believe it will take less time than countries in similar circumstances. In Thailand it's taken two generations - 24 or 25 years. In Pakistan and Turkey it has taken a generation. Pakistan was under military rule at the time so it was quite a bit more forceful. What counts is not so much how long it takes but whether we can see changes. To see a slowing down of the severity of the problem. Q: Are you satisfied that there are sufficient resources in Afghanistan to tackle the problem? A: I think resources is not the main problem. Commitment? At all levels by all parties? Whether they are government institutions, Asian partners or the international community: it requires everyone's commitment. Q: The overriding context of Afghanistan is poverty. Isn't opium a blessing to millions of farmers? A: It is a curse. It is a beautiful flower - the flower of death. For the addicts at the extreme end of the drug chain and for the farmers. To live in illegality anywhere in the world is not the right way of addressing the reconstruction needs of Afghanistan. Q: In what way is the opium trade an obstacle to democracy and good governance in Afghanistan? A: It is a major obstacle. Because it corrupts officials, it demonstrates that the government is inefficient. It prevents our efforts to construct good government and governance. It is a very major threat. Perhaps the major threat. Q: So ultimately, what is the solution? A: The responsibilities and institutions are at the moment very fragmented. We need a centre of gravity which does not exist. We have the foundations, the 10-years' strategy, the drugs law, the counter-narcotics directory - but we need a centre of gravity- with gravitas and the ability to be respected by bilateral donors, international institutions and the government. We need to create a coalition of honest people. There are plenty of honest people. I don't like the references that everyone in Afghanistan is corrupt. We do need to counter them, including some of the military commanders. Q: What message do you have for the international community? A: The international community has demonstrated that Afghanistan is a geopolitical crossroads of great interest, with potential lethal consequences. I think the international community needs to appreciate this will remain a geopolitical crossroads: a crossroads of trafficking, a crossroads of violence and a crossroads of profiteering which has to be eradicated. I'm not talking about eradication of poppy but removing a cancer from this land that would otherwise threaten the future.