The ins and outs of global politics are lost on the average poppy farmer.

Afghan officials have been paying poppy farmers about $500 per acre to destroy their plants.

They had alleged that the Burmese military was levying a tax on the poppy farmers.

Since Sunday, nine people were reported to have been killed in clashes between poppy farmers and officials trying to destroy their crops.

Thousands of Afghan refugees began filing home today across the country's eastern border after poppy farmers called off a protest that had blocked their passage.

Even today, the protest by the poppy farmers was wreathed in confusion.

The United Nations estimates that a poppy farmer earns more than $2,500 a year, compared with $670 for other farmers.

Under the plan, the Afghan officials will offer poppy farmers around $500 per acre to destroy their plants.

The practice is widespread among poppy farmers and effectively imposes interest rates of as much as 500 percent per year on the farmer.

Little aid has arrived for the poppy farmers.