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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 111
10 - 16 May 2003


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Symbolic destruction of landmines
AFGHANISTAN: ICRC credit scheme a new lifeline for the disabled
AFGHANISTAN: New report identifies land disputes 
PAKISTAN: Non-Afghan refugees given right to work
PAKISTAN: New report shows women still badly off at work
PAKISTAN: More accessible repatriation centre opens for refugees
PAKISTAN: ADB announces US $2.6 billion in assistance
TAJIKISTAN: Locust infestation threatens food security
KYRGYZSTAN: HRW reiterates concerns for opposition activist
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


AFGHANISTAN: Symbolic destruction of landmines

As part of its commitment under the Mine Ban Treaty, Afghanistan has begun
destroying stockpiled landmines. In a UN-government joint venture, the
first batch of 536 antipersonnel mines and 20 antitank mines were
detonated in four massive blasts on Monday to the east of the capital,
Kabul. "It was aimed at demonstrating Afghanistan's commitment to move
forward as quickly as possible with ridding the country of antipersonnel
landmines," Dan Kelly, a programme manager of the United Nations Mine
Action Centre for Afghanistan (UNMACA), told IRIN in Kabul. Afghanistan,
which is one of the world's most heavily mined countries, last September
became the 144th nation to have signed the 1997 Ottawa convention on
banning the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of landmines.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34063&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: ICRC credit scheme a new lifeline for the disabled

Sakhi Muhammad, aged 33 runs his small furniture and electronics shop in
the Afghan capital, Kabul, despite having lost his right leg to a mine in
the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in early 1990s when he was a
government soldier. Thanks to an International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) micro-credit project, Sakhi is able to feed his family of five
siblings and ageing parents. "This is a nice project and has helped us to
stand back on our feet," he told IRIN. Sakhi started his shop with an ICRC
loan of US $60 in April 2001 and borrowed an additional $100 in October of
the same year after repaying his first loan. He recently borrowed $350 to
boost his business.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34023&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: New report identifies land disputes as major source of
conflict

Abdul Baqi, aged 45, is involved in a dispute with close relatives over a
few fields their ancestors once shared. He recently returned to Paghman,
in the western rural district Kabul Province, after over two decades of
exile in neighbouring Pakistan, only to find his cousins unwilling to give
up claims to his land, which they had cultivated during the years of his
absence. "It's difficult to distinguish between right and wrong in this
country, so we have all these disputes over land ownership," Abdul Baqi
IRIN. Ever since his return from a refugee camp in the northwestern
Pakistani city of Peshawar last summer, the ethnic Pashtun farmer has
tried his best to avoid fighting with his cousins, but instead to assert
his claims through the country's fledgling government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34027&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN: Non-Afghan refugees given right to work

For the first time ever, non-Afghan refugees in Pakistan have been given
the chance to work legally. "Refugees have no real status in this country,
so this will give them protection against arbitrary arrest and
deportation, and allows them to work, giving them considerable
protection," a spokesman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), Jack Redden, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital,
Islamabad, on Wednesday. The status was given following an agreement
between UNHCR and Pakistan's National Aliens Registration Authority
(NARA), established under the interior ministry in 2001.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34094&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: New report shows women still badly off at work

A new global report released by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) on equality at work shows that women are still being discriminated
against in the workplace worldwide, with Pakistan having one of the lowest
rates in the world for female participation in the workforce. "Pakistan is
one of the worst countries in terms of the number of women employed, and
there is a huge gap in gender in the employment sector," the adviser to
the ILO on labour issues in Pakistan, Aliya Khan, told IRIN in the
capital, Islamabad. The total workforce in Pakistan today stands at 40
million, of whom 37 million are employed, under a definition of working
for at least one hour per day. However, of this figure, a staggering 31.6
million are men and only five million are women, according to official
statistics. "These figures are astounding, and [that] goes to show how
much work needs to be done in [the task of] involving more women," she
added.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34077&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: More accessible repatriation centre opens for refugees

On Monday the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees {UNHCR) and
the government of Pakistan opened a new type of Voluntary Repatriation
Centre (VRC) for Afghan refugees in the North West Frontier Province
(NWFP), renaming it an Iris Validation Centre. The Iris device identifies
people through the iris in their eyes on photographs taken for
repatriation forms. It converts a photographic image of the iris into a
digital code and only requires a second to check whether the person has
already received assistance. "The old VRC in the Takhta Baig area of
Peshawar has been closed down and the new one in Hayatabad is far more
accessible for the refugees as it is right in the middle of the Afghan
community," spokesman for UNHCR in Pakistan, Jack Redden told IRIN from
the capital, Islamabad on Tuesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34081&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN: ADB announces US $2.6 billion in assistance

The Asian Development Bank [ADB] is to release US $2.6 billion in
assistance to Pakistan between 2004 and 2006, it was announced at the
weekend following a high ranking meeting between ADB and Pakistani
officials. "Our main focus is on poverty alleviation specialising in
sectoral reforms, health, education and rural water supplies," ADB's
country director for Pakistan, Marshuk Ali Shah told IRIN in the capital,
Islamabad, on Monday. The consolidated package of 2.6 billion will be
divided over three years, working out at US $850 million a year. "We have
various strategic priorities, for example we have governance as a prime
area of activity. Social sector development is another along with economic
growth," he explained. Some 34 percent of Pakistan's population of 140
million lives below the poverty line, earning less than a dollar a day.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34037&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN: Locust infestation threatens food security

The UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has warned of a
devastating locust infestation in southern Tajikistan. "It has already
started in the southern regions, especially Pyandhz, where 3,000 hectares
have been infested, and of these 1,500 hectares were treated as of 5 May,"
the national programme assistant for FAO, Artem Phashenko, told IRIN from
the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Friday. The country is prone to locust
infestations, and this year FAO plans to treat 72,000 ha of land, costing
US $340,000 under a 16-month programme for 2003. An FAO statement said the
objective of the project was to provide urgent assistance to the Tajik
government to control the expected locust outbreak, thereby to reduce
damage to crops during the agricultural season. This is with a view to
safeguarding the food security of some 12,250 of the most vulnerable
households and farming units.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34149&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN

KYRGYZSTAN: HRW reiterates concerns for opposition activist

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reaffirmed its concerns that the Kyrgyz
authorities have threatened to arrest an opposition activist on
politically motivated charges. "This case is significant, because it is
the latest example of political persecution in Kyrgyzstan and one of the
most outrageous attacks on the Ar-Namys [Dignity] party since the
conviction of its leader, Feliks Kulov," Acacia Shields, a researcher for
the watchdog group, told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek on Monday.
"Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that Dulatov is at risk of
becoming Kyrgyzstan's next political prisoner," she said, calling the case
against him an "obvious fabrication".

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34038&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

In Central Asia this week, the main health issue continued to be fear of
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) spreading into the region from
neighbouring China. Kyrgyzstan said on Tuesday it had shut its border with
China in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly flu-like virus. The
860-km mountainous border was sealed on Monday, the Kyrgyz government said
in a statement. It said only cargo would be allowed to cross the border.
All tourist travel and transport links to China were also suspended. The
government said it had agreed with the Chinese side that citizens of the
two countries would be given 10 days to return to their respective homes.
Kyrgyzstan had earlier stepped up preventive controls at its borders and
begun disinfecting train carriages and planes travelling to and from
China.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34141&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


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