The war on drugs in Bangladesh

Two months ago, the Bangladeshi authorities declared a large-scale war on drugs, the results of which have led some to compare the situation with that of the United States. Philippines of Duterte. This poor country of 160 million inhabitants is struggling to contain the influx of drugs, especially pills such as «yaba», a mixture of methamphetamines and caffeine.

YABA

Asia is currently experiencing a real crisis of addiction to methamphetamines, in particular YABA, a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine that is very popular with students and party-goers, as it keeps them awake and active for a very long time. This drug, nicknamed the «Nazi amphetamine» in Europe, was originally developed by Hitler's scientists to keep soldiers alert for days on end.

Today, this drug has managed to spread en masse throughout South Asia, with disastrous consequences: its effects on the psyche are extremely dangerous, it has an extremely high addictive potential and can cause serious disorders such as paranoia, dementia and violent outbursts. Most YABA production comes from Burma. Trafficking in YABA has been growing rapidly in recent years. YABA traffickers are keen to do business that involves corruption and human exploitation, particularly of the Rohingya refugees used to transport the drug.

Violent repression

Faced with the stalemate and ineffectiveness of the fight against drug trafficking, the authorities have decided to launch a large-scale operation in an attempt to eradicate, or at least calm, the wave of violence and corruption associated with drug trafficking. Launched two months ago, this «war» has already resulted in 200 deaths, over 25,000 arrests and much controversy, with the authorities and gangs allegedly settling scores under the guise of police operations.

This is what the NGO Ain o Salish Kendra. Director Sheepa Hafiza condemns these extra-judicial executions and calls for fair investigations into each of the deaths.

This operation resembles that led by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who since his inauguration in June 2016 has caused over 12,000 deaths in a bloody war against traffickers. In Bangladesh as in the Philippines, certain audio and video documents clearly indicate that at least some of these operations are in fact settling of scores, in countries still too affected by corruption, and where it is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between police and criminals.