Fishing communities in Laos feel effect of pollution from gold, rare earth mining in rebel-controlled areas of Myanmar.


Fishing communities in Laos feel effect of pollution from gold, rare earth mining in rebel-controlled areas of Myanmar.

Poppy cultivation and methamphetamine production has surged in Myanmar amid the country’s grinding civil war.
![Women shield themselves from the sun with scarves and straw hats as they harvest opium poppies in southern Shan State [Fabio Polese/Global News Insight]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/007_Myanmar_Drugs_Polese-1749263549.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)