Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-182: 24-Sep-04
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
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Central Asia
IRIN-CAS Weekly Round-Up 156
18 - 24 September 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Gunmen attack aid agency in Nooristan
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR closes two iris verification centres in
Pakistan
AFGHANISTAN: Disarmament accelerated as elections approach
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: IOM training staff for Afghan election
AFGHANISTAN: Leadership training for women
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
IRAN: IOM to open academy for migration and refugee studies
KAZAKHSTAN: Election way short of international standards - observers
KYRGYZSTAN: New UN initiative promotes volunteering
KYRGYZSTAN: Not ready to import nuclear fuel for reprocessing
PAKISTAN: Illegal alcohol continues to cause deaths
PAKISTAN: Journalist ordered released
TAJIKISTAN: Migrants victims of post-Beslan crackdown in Moscow - NGO
TURKMENISTAN: Concern over religious freedom continues
UZBEKISTAN: ADB helps to reform education sector
UZBEKISTAN: Crime and addiction rising on opium front line
AFGHANISTAN: Gunmen attack aid agency in Nooristan
The UK-based relief agency Afghan Aid (AA) has suspended activities in the
northeastern province of Nooristan after an armed attack on its field
office last Friday. A group of armed men broke into the AA office during
the night, beat up the local staff and stole two vehicles and all the
agency's electronic and communications equipment. "There were nine people.
They beat up the staff and locked them in the guard's room. After two
hours, the men took two AA vehicles, electronic and radio communications
equipment and ran away."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43251&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: UNHCR closes two iris verification centres in
Pakistan
As the number of Afghans repatriating to their homeland falls, the UN
refugee agency has announced the closure of two of its iris scanning
centres in Pakistan, which had been set up to verify the entitlement of
returnees to avail themselves of repatriation assistance. The UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was operating four Iris Verification
Centres (IVCs) at its four departure centres in the two Pakistani cities
of Peshawar and Quetta, located close to the Afghan border.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43250&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Disarmament accelerated as elections approach
Tens of thousands of ex-combatants will be disarmed by the UN-backed
disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme before the
October elections. The multi-million dollar Afghanistan's New Beginning
Programme (ANBP, the official name for the DDR process) is designed to
disarm more than 100,000 former fighters. Fewer than 20,000 members of the
militia forces have been decommissioned since disarmament was launched
last October.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43285&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: IOM training staff for Afghan election
An intensive training programme is under way to train over 1,000 election
staff recruited to administer the out of country 9 October Afghan
presidential poll in Pakistan, according to an official of the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM). "We've completed step one
- and almost step two as well - of our (IOM) training programme. In the
first phase, seven international staff members of IOM were trained along
with 15 Afghan nationals."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43283&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Leadership training for women
Female civil servants and qualified Afghan women will be trained in
leadership and decision-making skills through a joint UN-government
programme. Under Senior Women in Management (SWIM), a US $100,000,
six-month training course was launched by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Afghan Ministries of Rural Rehabilitation and
Development, Finance, and Women's Affairs on Monday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43301&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
Described by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) as failing to comply with international standards, Sunday's
parliamentary election in Kazakhstan were, nonetheless, welcomed by some
independent observers, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on
Monday. The elections were the most open and competitive in the history of
independent Kazakhstan, according to one US-based independent observer
mission.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43335&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
IRAN: IOM to open academy for migration and refugee studies
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) will launch a project
to establish an academy for migration and refugee studies in the Iranian
capital, Tehran, on Tuesday. "The opening of this academy leads the way
for better management of migration on the national and regional level in
Iran." Labour migration needed to be better managed, she maintained,
noting pointedly that many states actually needed migrants.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43253&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN
KAZAKHSTAN: Election way short of international standards - observers
Parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan have fallen short of both national
and international standards, a local monitoring body says, describing them
as a step backwards compared to earlier polls. The elections returned
overwhelmingly pro-government candidates."There have been gross violations
and the elections were not democratic." The electronic voting system
hadn't proved itself to be reliable, he added. According to the KNIM, due
to confusion, a significant number of voters who came to polling stations
couldn't vote.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43262&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: New UN initiative promotes volunteering
An information centre has been established in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek,
to promote the work of United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in the country,
with particular emphasis on the needs of young people. Opened earlier this
month, the UNV Volunteer Information Centre will act as a source of
information about volunteering, as well as providing a focal point for
volunteers and young people interested in development issues.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43302&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Not ready to import nuclear fuel for reprocessing
Controversial plans to ship 1,800 mt of British radioactive material to
Kyrgyzstan for reprocessing have not been agreed by the authorities in
Bishkek. "Nobody, neither a legal entity nor a real person, has applied to
us for a licence to import this uranium waste." British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
(BNFL), an international company owned by the UK government, has defended
the decision for disposal in a uranium mine in the Central Asian country.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43320&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
PAKISTAN: Illegal alcohol continues to cause deaths
Pakistan's human rights activists have criticised the government for what
they call its disregard for public health after 42 people died after
drinking poisonous home-made alcohol in the eastern city of Multan in
Punjab province. Consumption of liquor by Muslims is banned in Pakistan
under the country's prohibition laws dating back to the 1970s. Officially
two breweries operate in the country to serve non-Muslim communities. But
potent home-made liquors are manufactured illegally in several parts of
the country.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43284&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Journalist ordered released
A Pakistani journalist, Sarwar Mujahid, detained since 31 July on charges
of "inciting public opinion", was ordered to be released by the provincial
high court of Punjab on Wednesday. "The high court observed that the
detention order of the government is not supported by any evidence that
Mujahid's activities were anti-state or contrary to public peace. And on
the basis of mere allegations and apprehensions, liberty of a person can't
be curtailed and hence the court set aside the detention order of the
Punjab government."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43333&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Migrants victims of post-Beslan crackdown in Moscow - NGO
Central Asian migrant workers in Russia are increasingly falling victim to
a post-Beslan crackdown on illegal migration. The Russian police have
deported hundreds of Tajik labour migrants for failing to register in
time, a move criticised by migration NGOs in the country. "Similar
demonstrative deportations for the television cameras have been done in
the past, and mainly the most vulnerable and unprotected Tajiks were
taken."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43286&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
TURKMENISTAN: Concern over religious freedom continues
Concern over the state of religious freedom in Turkmenistan persisted on
Tuesday after a recent US State Department report failed to designate the
reclusive Central Asian state a country of particular concern (CPC), much
to the chagrin of the United States Commission on Religious Freedom
(USCIRF). "The State Department's own records have consistently concluded
that religious freedom conditions continue to deteriorate in Turkmenistan,
a highly repressive country whose leader is currently imposing a state
religion based on his own personality cult."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43281&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: ADB helps to reform education sector
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a further $30 million loan
to help reform the education sector of Central Asia's most populous state,
bringing the total of its loan projects for education to more than $230
million since 1997. Uzbek schools and colleges have been experiencing
difficulties since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 with shortages
of textbooks, a lack of teaching equipment and the resignation of teachers
due to poor salaries.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=43252&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: Crime and addiction rising on opium front line
Since the overthrow of the Taliban - who banned poppy cultivation in
Afghanistan - at the end of 2001, the level of heroin transiting through
southern Uzbekistan has been increasing as Afghan opium output has reached
new highs. The increase is leading to new security and health problems in
the unstable former Soviet republic. "There are more crimes connected with
drugs in Denus, Sarias and Uzun districts. They also take place in the
[border] city of Termez."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42838&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
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