THE UNITED NATIONS, June 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Afghanistan has turned in a global drug-making center that shows ineffective actions in this sphere by foreign military missions, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told ITAR-TASS on Wednesday.
On the eve of the international day of struggle against drug abuse marked on Thursday, the UN Security Council chaired by Russia held open debates devoted to the situation in Afghanistan. Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Yuri Fedotov delivered a report to the UN Security Council. “The data he cited is regrettable. Afghanistan essentially turned in one of global drug-making centers,” the Russian ambassador summed up the results of the council’s meeting.
According to latest reports of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan accounts for 80% of global opium and heroin production, the area of poppy straw crops reached a record 209,000 hectares in the country in 2013. Meanwhile, opium production went up 50% to reach 5,500 tons last year. “All this shows graphically ineffective actions in this sphere by foreign military missions in Afghanistan,” Churkin believes.
Upon the results of the UN Security Council meeting, two statements of the council’s chair were adopted. The first one aimed to support political process in Afghanistan and the second concerned drug-making problem in Afghanistan. “The UN Security Council has not adopted any documents concerning the drug threat in concrete countries before,” the Russian permanent representative said. In his words, the UN Security Council’s statement “fixed that fight against drugs is topical for UN activity in that country,” urging international community, particularly the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to back Afghan government’s efforts in this sphere.
Churkin said with confidence that the Afghan drug threat problem “is worth debating at a forthcoming special session of the UN General Assembly on global drug problem in 2016."