Myanmar's lost generation battles addiction at 'jungle rehab': Video
In the dense jungles of Myanmar, a generation of young people is fighting the dual burdens of trauma and drug addiction.
This is a result of years of witnessing torture, brutalities and a massacre. Thousands of people fled to various refugee camps in August 2017, after Myanmar’s military killed an estimated 10,000 people in what United Nations experts call a genocide.
A former addict, Marip (pseudonym) from a refugee camp, describes a bleak reality where many youth, uncertain about their future and without job prospects, turn to drugs for solace.
"There's a sense of hopelessness after school, and with no guarantee of jobs, many youths in the camps fall into addiction," Marip said. Families desperate for help send their loved ones to jungle-based rehab programs, where alternative treatments like acupuncture have proven effective in reducing cravings and stabilising emotions.
He adds, “In our treatment programme, we help people regain full health, free from drug hangovers and cravings. When their minds fully reject the desire for drugs, we can help them maintain sobriety even after they leave, as it did for me."
Addiction has wreaked havoc on entire communities, with drugs such as methamphetamine - commonly known as "Yaba" - becoming cheaper and more accessible than ever. In some areas, a pill costs less than fifty cents, Benedikt Hofmann, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Southeast Asia representative, told AFP.
This has consequently created what Edward Blakely, director at the Dare Network, calls "a perfect storm" of addiction fueled by trauma and hopelessness.
“You've got sort of two large problems. You've got a lot of trauma, a lot of generational trauma. People having to have fled their homes, seen their relatives killed. And then there is an abundant supply of drugs and a sense of hopelessness. And those two things put together creates a perfect storm," said Blakely.
Marip, now free from addiction, reflects on the transformation, "After we stopped using drugs and were free from this addiction - there is no price that compares to the freedom from drugs."
Benedikt Hofmann, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Southeast Asia representative, told AFP that "Right now in some parts of the Mekong, most parts of the Mekong in fact, getting a pill of Yaba, for example, a tablet of Yaba, which is methamphetamine mixed with caffeine, is cheaper than buying a beer.
In August 2017, violent attacks forced thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Many endured long, dangerous journeys to Bangladesh, where nearly 1 million now live in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox's Bazar.
