Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-167: 11-Jun-04
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia
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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-up 167
5 - 11 June 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Child kidnapping on the rise
AFGHANISTAN: At least 11 die in "cold blooded" killing of Chinese
construction workers
CENTRAL ASIA: US trade pact seen as unlikely to yield immediate benefits
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: HRW urges EU to pressure Tehran on human rights
KAZAKHSTAN: EBRD to provide $300 million in "selective" investment
KYRGYZSTAN: Landslide risk remains high, says official
KYRGYZSTAN: Asthma cases increasing
PAKISTAN: Threat to aid agencies not "specific"
PAKISTAN: UNICEF training field workers as Sindh water crisis worsens
TAJIKISTAN: Focus on keeping girls in school
TAJIKISTAN: Labour migration source of concern for HIV/AIDS
TURKMENISTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Border settlers make new life with few resources
AFGHANISTAN: Child kidnapping on the rise
Afghan authorities in the capital Kabul have said that child kidnapping is
on the rise. According to Interior Ministry officials, at least 200
children have been kidnapped or abducted over the past 12 months. "The
Interior Ministry recognises child kidnapping as a serious issue and is
taking positive steps to stop this crime. We have arrested 100 kidnappers
in two years and this shows the efforts the ministry is making."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41467&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: At least 11 die in "cold blooded" killing of Chinese
construction workers
In the worst attack of its kind, at least 11 Chinese construction workers
and an Afghan guard were ruthlessly gunned down in the northern province
of Konduz early on Thursday. A group of some 20 armed men rushed into an
isolated construction workers' compound near the village of Jalaw Gir,
35km outside the city of Koduz and opened fire while the workers were
asleep.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41600&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: US trade pact seen as unlikely to yield immediate benefits
The United States signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with
five Central Asian nations last week that raised hopes of an increase in
exports from the region. The five countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - gained independence from the
Soviet Union a decade ago and are trying to liberalise trade.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41450&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
Five people suspected of having contracted anthrax (cutaneous form) had
been hospitalised in the southern Kyrgyz province of Jalal-Abad and were
under going treatment, local media reported on Wednesday. According to the
Kyrgyz centre for infectious diseases, the source of the infection was a
cow slaughtered and consumed in the southern Suzak district by local
residents. There are more than 1,200 sites, which could be possible
sources of anthrax infection in Kyrgyzstan. Bacteria causing the disease
remain infectious in the soil for many years.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41621&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
IRAN: HRW urges EU to pressure Tehran on human rights
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the European Union (EU) to put pressure
on the Iranian authorities to make further improvements in human rights by
abandoning the torture and ill-treatment of detainees, and to restore
freedom of expression in the country. "We would like the EU to press the
Iranian government, firstly, to release political prisoners."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41466&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN
KAZAKHSTAN: EBRD to provide $300 million in "selective" investment
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest up
to US $300 million to strengthen Kazakhstan's economy over the next two
years. "Our objective is to invest primarily in the private sector with
some public sector involvement. We do this on a very selective basis.
Where we feel we can have an impact, that's where we are involved."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41580&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Landslide risk remains high, says official
With ongoing torrential rains and minor tremors across the country,
Kyrgyzstan remains vulnerable to landslides and floods, emergency
officials told IRIN on Wednesday. "The situation with regard to landslides
has slightly stabilised compared to the spring, and landslide activity is
going down. However, there are still landslides in both the south and
north of the country."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41577&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Asthma cases increasing
Respiratory diseases have become a major killer in Kyrgyzstan. In 2002,
some 25 percent of adults and teenagers and almost 45 percent of children
were suffering from debilitating diseases of the lungs. Chronic
bronchitis, tuberculosis and asthma are three of the most prevalent. While
the prevalence of the first two has been widely documented, less is known
about asthma.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41574&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
PAKISTAN: Threat to aid agencies not "specific"
Some foreign aid organisations have suspended operations over the weekend
in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta after being informed by a
government security agency of the threat of suicide attacks by suspected
Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives. But a senior police official said on
Monday that the threats were no "cause for imminent concern".
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41448&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: UNICEF training field workers as Sindh water crisis worsens
The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is supporting the training of
over 600 female health workers, who will travel door-to-door in the
southern city of Hyderabad and its outlying regions to educate mothers and
families in the use of chlorine, according to a UNICEF official. The move
comes after the death of at least 30 people, many of whom were children,
from polluted water.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41593&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Focus on keeping girls in school
According to recent figures, an increasing number of girls in the
impoverished mountainous state are leaving school before reaching grade
nine. "There are no girls attending grades 10 and 11, but we have 35 in
grade two." According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the
exact reasons for this phenomenon have yet to be determined, prompting the
Tajik Ministry of Education, with support from the UN agency, to survey
two schools in the capital Dushanbe, along with one school in Hisor and
another in Vahdat district.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41469&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Labour migration source of concern for HIV/AIDS
Labour migration could fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS in impoverished
Tajikistan where upwards of 600,000 people migrate abroad each year in
search of work, a UNAIDS official told IRIN. "The migrant population has
more risk of getting infected and that's one of the target groups." Since
1991, 228 cases of HIV/AIDS have been registered, 109 of them in the first
four months of 2004.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41597&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Border settlers make new life with few resources
A new community of reluctant migrants - ethnic Uzbeks from neighbouring
Turkmenistan - is slowly emerging outside the town of Talimarjan, on the
border between the two countries 55 km southwest of the city of Karshi,
the capital of the southern Uzbek province of Kashkadarya. Although the
Turkmen foreign ministry announced last week that ethnic Uzbeks could
register as Turkmen citizens if they wished, when IRIN visited the border
settlement there were few takers.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=41443&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN-UZBEKISTAN
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