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阿富汗運用學童剷除罌粟田

2006年06月07日
ENS阿富汗,馬扎里謝里夫報導;楊璧如、蘇家億編譯;莫聞審校

年僅16歲的諾爾‧穆罕默德,這個來自巴爾赫省首都馬札里沙里夫十年級的阿富汗學童,田野中揮舞著一根棍子,用力的敲打身旁的罌粟花植物。2日這天是學校郊遊的日子,他說道:「我喜歡摧毀罌粟花,出城一整天也很有趣。」

諾爾這次下鄉一日的戶外課程,是阿富汗班卡政府反毒部門安排的實驗行動的一部分。班卡執行罌粟掃除工作的資深政府官員阿卡特瑞說:「縱使加上交通和午餐費,學生還是比其他人力來得便宜。我們將會在罌粟季結束前再請學生來幾次。」

不是所有參加的學生都像諾爾如此熱心,14歲的帕維茲相反的顯得十分害怕。他說:「這真是個困難的任務,但是我們卻被學校要求要做這些事。現在我們只希望那些武裝民兵的首領不要來攻擊我們。」

帕維茲的恐懼可不是沒來由的。剷除罌粟的行動的確會是一項危險的工作。種植罌粟的農人,一旦發現自己的生計和幾個月勞動成果付諸流水,有時會變得十分暴力。

在5月上旬,北方薩爾伊普省(Sar-e-Pul),一名五年級小學生在一場農民和警察的衝突中死亡,另有9位員警在這場衝突中受傷。班卡教育部長魁諾表示,這件意外使得學童到田間的計畫更加雪上加霜,他的辦公室正重新思考學生勞動力的適用性。有鑒於有些學童因接觸罌粟而產生身體不適的現象,他說:「我們必須決定不能干擾學童的上課時間。」

不過阿卡特瑞仍堅持掃除計畫是成功的。種植鴉片的42000 jerib(土地單位,約2萬多英畝)的罌粟田,已有2/3被鏟除、但根據班卡省長阿塔的說法,防止農人種植罌粟會比除去現有的罌粟田來得經濟及有效。阿塔說:「一旦農人挹注時間和勞力在罌粟上,要摧毀收成就益發顯得危險。一旦辛苦一年的成果被破壞,農人必定會變得凶暴。」

Afghanistan: Schoolchildren Used to Eradicate Opium Poppies
MAZAR-e-SHARIF, Afghanistan, June 2, 2006 (ENS)

罌粟田It's a day out in the country for Noor Mohammad, as he stands in the middle of a field with a stick, beating energetically at the opium poppy plants around him. "I like destroying poppies," he said. "It's fun to be away from the city for a day." Noor, 16, is in the tenth grade at a school in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province.

His one day trip to the country is part of an experiment being conducted by the government's counter-narcotics department in Balkh.

"Even with transportation and lunch, students come a lot cheaper than any other work force," explained Zabiullah Akhtari, a senior government official in charge of poppy eradication in Balkh. "We're going to use students several more times before the end of the poppy season."

Not all the participants share Noor's enthusiasm for the task. By contrast, Parwaiz, 14, is scared to death. "It's a difficult task, but we have been ordered to do it by our school," he said. "Now we're just hoping that armed [militia] commanders don't attack us."

Parwaiz's fear is not an idle one. Poppy eradication can be a hazardous occupation, as farmers sometimes turn violent when their livelihoods, and the fruit of several months' labor, are wiped out.
In early May, a fifth grade school pupil was killed in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul during a clash between police and farmers. Nine police were wounded during the skirmish.

The incident has put a damper on the drive to get schoolchildren out into the fields. Ghulam Haider Qanoon, deputy head of Balkh's education department, said his office was now reconsidering the use of student labor.

Noting that some of the schoolchildren had been made ill from physical contact with the opium-laden plants, he said, "We have decided not to disturb the students during their class time."

Akhtari insisted that the eradication program has been a success. Almost two-thirds of the 42,000 jeribs - over 20,000 acres - planted with opium has already been wiped out. But according to Balkh's provincial governor, said Atta Mohammad Noor, preventing cultivation would be a lot cheaper and more effective than eradicating existing poppy fields. Once farmers have invested time and labor in their crops, it is much more dangerous to destroy the harvest. "Farmers could definitely get violent if their year's work is destroyed," said Atta.