“A perfect storm for smuggling”: New UNODC research on migrant smuggling in Southeast Asia reveals why people seek out smugglers

UNITED NATIONS
Bangkok (Thailand),
3 May 2024  

Rohingya refugees arrive in Ulee Madon in North Aceh, Indonesia after a perilous journey at sea. © UNHCR/Amanda Jufrian

“I left Myanmar because I felt unsafe.”

brahim*, a Rohingya man in his twenties, said armed conflicts and intentional burnings of his village had “forced everyone to flee.”

He’s not the only one. New research from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that tens of thousands of people from Myanmar, other parts of Southeast Asia, and from outside the region are smuggled to, through and from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand every year.

Myanmar cracking down on opium, but conflicts fuel drug trade.

UN reports shows less land being used to grow opium poppies, but conflicts hampering eradication programme.

Al Jazeera: 11th Jan 2019 @ 04:09

The amount of land being used to grow opium poppies continues to decline in Myanmar, but ongoing conflicts are hampering efforts to stamp out the trade at a time when the illicit drug economy is becoming increasingly diverse, according to a new UN report.