Gandar Mount P.S.O

Hill Tribes: Nomadic tribes such as the Lahu, Akha and Lisu live in the mountains of Yunnan, Laos and northern Shan State. They practice shifting cultivation and grow opium. In the Shan State, they also practice traditional religions and are poor even by Burmese standards; hill tribes are dependent on opium as their primary source of cash. More than 600 tonns of opium was produced in the state yearly. Hill tribes in the north of Shan state have been adversely affected by the aerial spraying of 2,4-D herbicide over their land by the Burmese government. Provided by the US for opium eradication, 2,4-D may produce such long-term effects as cancer and birth defects. In the Shan state, the spraying of 2,4-D is said to have ruined non-narcotic crops and caused medical problems in animals and humans. Fear of the spraying is said to be causing migration of the hill tribes, and the ruined crops are causing economic hardship and further political destabilization in the vast area through the north of the Shan state. Hill tribes may be seeking the protection of the armed insurgent groups.