UN URGES CENTRAL ASIA TO STEM DRUG TRAFFICKING

ALMATY, July 15 (Reuters) - The United Nations wants the five ex-Soviet
states of Central Asia to tighten border controls and work together to stem
a flood of drugs across the region, a senior U.N. representative said on
Wednesday.

``We are here to help coordinate the five countries,'' said Bogdan
Lisovich, Central Asian representative of the U.N. International Drug
Control Programme.

``The main problem is Afghanistan, which produced 2,800 tonnes of opium in
1997, well over half the world total of 4,800 tonnes,'' he told Reuters in
an interview during a visit to Kazakhstan's commercial capital.

Lisovich said the Central Asian states, three of which border Afghanistan,
needed to coordinate their operations and harmonise legislation and
reporting procedures.

The borders of the five states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- are notoriously leaky.

If control along one stretch of the border is tightened, trafficking tends
to increase along another stretch, creating what Lisovich called ``the
balloon effect.''

Afghanistan shares borders with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

From there a high proportion of drugs is transported through tiny,
mountainous Kyrgyzstan or more often across the vast steppes of Kazakhstan
on their way to Western Europe.

The United Nations is encouraging states bordering Afghanistan to set up a
``law enforcement belt'' around the country to clamp down on the drug trade.

``We are also talking to Pakistan and Iran on this point. Iran is very
serious about the drug problem,'' Lisovich said.

The United Nations estimates that around 250,000 Afghans are involved in
producing drugs and as many as one million are dependent on the illicit
business for their living.

Lisovich said the United Nations was also concerned about a rise in drug
consumption in Central Asia, particularly in Kazakhstan.

Official statistics show that 35,000 Kazakhs out of a population of 16
million are drug addicts, although U.N. representatives say the real figure
is probably 10 times higher.

``Countries of supply and transit are turning into consumer centres, which
is a very disturbing trend,'' Lisovich said.

In Pakistan, for example, around 20,000 addicts existed 20 years ago but
the figure has risen to 1.2 million, he said.

``Consumption of drugs is a problem in Kazakhstan. Often it is related to
economic hardship, often to the moral vacuum created by the collapse of the
Soviet Union.''

Unemployment alone has driven thousands to drug dependency, said Alma
Yesirkegenova, U.N. programme officer in Kazakhstan.

Around four percent of Kazakhs are officially registered as jobless,
although the real figure is estimated at anywhere between 10 and 20 percent.

Lisovich said he planned to meet officials from the foreign, justice and
interior ministries of Kazakhstan before travelling to Kyrgyzstan at the
end of the week.

^REUTERS@

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski