VZCZCXRO2913
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHVN #0088/01 0391013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081013Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1808
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0022
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0122
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENTIANE 000088 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/AAE 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
PACOM FOR JIATF-W 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR XC LA
SUBJECT: VIENTIANE ILLICIT DRUG SECTOR DONOR GROUP BEGINS 
ITS WORK 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) In January the Vientiane Illicit Drug Sector 
Working Group (IDSWG) conducted its first semi-annual meeting 
for 2008.  What was once the Vientiane Mini-Dublin Group has 
evolved IDSWG, a larger body that includes all of the drug 
sector donors in Laos. China, Korea, and the members of ASEAN 
are all significant drug sector donors in Laos, but before 
the formation of the IDSWG, they were not part of any formal 
donor coordination process.  While expansion of the group to 
include all of the major players is clearly a step in the 
right direction, it still produced frustratingly little in 
terms of tangible donor coordination. The Embassy, along with 
several participating United Nations Programs, hope to see 
the formation of a supporting technical working group for the 
IDSWG in the near future which could facilitate coordination 
more effectively.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The donor counter narcotics coordination meeting of 
2008 was held under the aegis of the new Vientiane Illicit 
Drug Sector Working Group (IDSWG).  At its last meeting in 
June 2007, the Mini-Dublin Group agreed to draft terms of 
reference for a new working group, to consist of members of 
the Mini-Dublin Group, plus the GOL, other ASEAN members, 
countries with memoranda of understanding with ASEAN on drug 
control (which include China, India, Korea and Russia), and 
an expanded list of donor organizations.  The IDSWG is 
chaired by the Chairman of the LCDC, Minister Soubanh.  The 
national co-chair of the Vientiane Mini-Dublin Group 
(currently Australia) and the UNODC Country Representative 
serve as co-chairs.  Countries attending (most represented by 
Ambassadors) included:  Australia, Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, 
China, EU, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Korea, 
Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the US. 
Organizations attending included: UNDP, UNAIDS, World Food 
Program, UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, ADB, and several 
governmental and non-governmental donor organizations. 
 
¶3. (U) In remarks opening the meeting, Minister Soubanh noted 
remarkable progress toward making Laos poppy-free, but 
cautioned that this situation "remains very fragile" because 
of the number of farmers formerly dependent on poppy who have 
been left without a viable livelihood.  He said that LCDC had 
refined the list of 1100 villages that needed such 
assistance, to place greater emphasis on the 32 former opium 
producing districts that are among the 47 poorest districts 
identified by the national poverty elimination strategy.  The 
GOL needed donor support for sustained assistance in its 
action plan for the period 2008-2012 if it were to be able to 
perpetuate the substantial elimination of poppy cultivation 
that has now been achieved.  He said the GOL recognized and 
was very concerned by indications, such as frequent arrests 
of Lao citizens found smuggling drugs into Vietnam or other 
neighboring countries, that transnational criminal 
organizations were exploiting Laos for transit of drugs and 
other contraband.  In December, the National Assembly 
approved a new drug law, which should shortly come into 
effect.  This new law would help strengthen GOL capabilities 
to maintain Laos opium-free, prevent or reduce abuse of 
methamphetamine and other illegal drugs, and prevent or 
punish trafficking and other drug-related crime.  LCDC would 
be consulting with UNODC to develop a new drug control 
strategy based on this law to guide its actions in coming 
years. 
 
¶4.  (U) UNODC Country Director Leik Boonwaat briefed the 
Group on UNODC's assessment of the current drug and crime 
control situation in Laos, and then detailed UNODC's ongoing 
and planned activities.  He described the recent history of 
declining poppy cultivation in Laos, based on UNODC annual 
surveys, and described plans for the 2008 survey, which would 
begin in February.  He agreed with Minister Soubanh's warning 
that failure to respond to the requirements of the rural 
population for alternative livelihood carried an attendant 
danger of resumed poppy cultivation.  Many farmers who had 
given up poppy had subsisted so far only through 
non-sustainable expedients, including destructive one-time 
collection of non-timber forest products, consumption of 
available livestock, daily wage labor or relocating to other 
areas.  UNODC had worked with Laos and its neighbors to 
promote more effective cooperation against the growing 
problem of smuggling of drugs, precursor and essential 
chemicals, and other contraband by transnational criminal 
organizations through Laos to other countries in the region. 
He noted that during the past year, Vietnam had arrested a 
 
VIENTIANE 00000088  002 OF 002 
 
 
substantial number of Lao citizens found smuggling heroin or 
other drugs into Vietnam, some of whom had received death 
sentences.  Statistics published by the Thai authorities 
showed that among foreigners arrested in Thailand for drug 
trafficking during 2007, the largest number came from Burma 
and Laos. 
 
¶5.  (U) As has been customary in the Vientiane mini-Dublin 
Group, the US Embassy was then invited to brief the group on 
the USG assessment of the regional drug trafficking 
situation, and potential paths forward.  The Vientiane 
Transnational Crime Affairs Section (TCAS) Officer described 
the USG annual estimates of poppy cultivation, which differed 
slightly from those prepared by UNODC, but fully confirmed 
the steep decline during recent years.  He said the USG was 
reorienting its remaining opium poppy crop control assistance 
to respond more directly to the need of former poppy growers 
for alternative livelihoods, and emphasized that this type of 
assistance must in many instances be complemented by food 
security relief assistance to address compelling requirements 
in many areas.  The USG also recognized that while measures 
now being implemented to facilitate freer movement of goods 
and persons among ASEAN members are important and desirable, 
both for trade and economic development, they also entailed 
significant additional challenges which Lao law enforcement 
and border control authorities could address only through 
cooperation with neighboring nations and assistance from 
international donors. 
 
¶6.  (U) Following these presentations, the WFP resident 
representative provided a brief description of WFP activities 
during 2007.  WFP had just succeeded in meeting its target of 
providing food relief assistance in 200 villages, all or 
virtually all of which had formerly produced poppy.  She 
welcomed US recognition of the urgent need to respond to food 
security concerns, and said WFP's independent assessments had 
confirmed the urgent requirement for such assistance.  She 
called on LCDC to consult with donors, and to define/map the 
villages it considered in need of food relief, alternative 
development or other assistance.  She said that confusion 
over village names and the irregular displacement of many 
communities made it difficult to determine where many 
potential recipients were physically located.  She said that 
of the 200 villages WFP had assisted with food relief during 
2007, only about a quarter appeared to have been part of the 
GOL list of 1100 villages most in need of assistance. 
 
¶7.  (U) The UNODC Country Director proposed that the annual 
field observation visit customarily arranged for members of 
this Group take place during the first week of March, and 
that this year's visit include UNODC and other donor projects 
in Oudomxai and Luang Namtha Provinces.  The Australian 
co-chair said that a report of this meeting would be 
submitted at the Dublin Group meeting later this month in 
Brussels. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  The breadth of participation allowed by 
the new IDSWG form is a better reflection of the actual 
situation in Laos, where many of the most significant donors 
in this sector are not members of the Dublin Group.  The 
level of participation is a welcome indication of the degree 
of interest and concern that the participating countries have 
in drug and related crime control issues.  That said, the 
Group in this form is not well-suited to facilitate effective 
donor coordination in accordance with the objectives of the 
Dublin Group, as the presence of the GOL and non-like minded 
donors precludes the sort of frank discussion necessary.  The 
Embassy intends to continue to pursue, starting with UNODC, 
an idea that the WFP resident representative advanced; that 
the Group agree to establish a technical sub-group that 
together with LCDC can provide some coordination within the 
drug sector where little to none currently exists.  End 
Comment. 
Huso