Weekly Round-Up - IRINCAS-196: 31-Dec-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 196
25 - 31 December 2004
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Refugees and asylum seekers subjected to human rights abuses
AFGHANISTAN: Interview with chief adviser on refugees and returnees
AFGHANISTAN: IDPs willing to settle in south
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KAZAKHSTAN: Soros Foundation denies tax evasion charge
KYRGYZSTAN: Organic cotton tested in the south
KYRGYZSTAN: Landslide villagers reluctant to resettle
PAKISTAN: NGOs and government respond to massive tsunami needs
PAKISTAN: ADB approves loan for Kashmir development
PAKISTAN: Navy assisting in tsunami relief
PAKISTAN: Islamabad warned over slow response to HIV/AIDS
AFGHANISTAN: Refugees and asylum seekers subjected to human rights abuses
Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries and further afield continue to
suffer human rights violations, rights advocates warned the Afghan
government on Wednesday. Their concerns follow recent reports that Greek
police officers allegedly tortured a group of some 40 Afghan
asylum-seekers, including at least 17 Afghans aged 15 to 17. The torture
reportedly included severe beatings and death threats, taking place over
several days in mid-December, according to Amnesty International (AI).
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44842&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: Interview with chief adviser on refugees and returnees
More than three million Afghan refugees have returned home from
neighbouring Pakistan and Iran in the last two years. But millions remain
in exile and are reluctant to return due to a lack of reintegration
opportunities and shelter. In an interview with IRIN, Habibullah Qadiri,
the chief adviser to the Afghan government on refugees and returnees, said
donor assistance was not enough to help the returnees reintegrate, while a
lack of shelter and land remained problematic.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44830&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
AFGHANISTAN: IDPs willing to settle in south
Tens of thousands of internally displaced persons [IDPs] in the southern
border camp of Zhare Dasht are seeking assistance to help them settle in
an area they have lived in temporarily over the last two years. With
drought conditions continuing in the areas these IDPs came from, the
destitute families prefer to stay in Zhare Dasht rather than return to
their places of origin. Although the desert area is cold during the winter
and isolated from the southern Kandahar city, people say they can manage
to earn a living or receive some assistance in the troubled IDP camp.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44820&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
The early part of the week was dominated by reports from Uzbekistan's
parliamentary poll that took place on Sunday, 26 December. European
election monitors condemned the elections, saying they did not meet
international standards. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE), which sent 21 observers to Uzbekistan, said the vote was
neither competitive nor transparent in a contest where all opposition
parties had been banned from taking part. "Regrettably, the implementation
of the election legislation by the authorities failed to ensure a
pluralistic, competitive and transparent election," said Lubomir Kopaj,
who headed the OSCE observation mission.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44880&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
KAZAKHSTAN: Soros Foundation denies tax evasion charge
A branch of the Soros Foundation in Kazakhstan has denied charges of tax
evasion by the authorities, describing the allegations as politically
motivated. "It seems that the Kazakh government wants to close down the
foundation," Dariusz Zietek, head of the Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan
(SFK), told IRIN from the commercial capital, Almaty, on Thursday. "The
whole story is politically motivated." Kazakh financial officials have
opened a criminal investigation against the SFK.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44856&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Organic cotton tested in the south
Farmers in the south of Kyrgyzstan have organically produced their first
24 mt of cotton fibre. Organic agriculture is predicted to take off by
2006, allowing local farmers the opportunity to increase their standard of
living while at the same time protect the environment. "I think I have
chosen the right way to farm," Raimov Makambai, a farmer from the
Jalalabat region who recently switched to organic farming, told IRIN.
"It's better for the environment and for people's health."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44832&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: Landslide villagers reluctant to resettle
Landslides, avalanches and floods are common in this mountainous country.
According to the Ministry of Ecology and Emergency of Kyrgyzstan (MEE),
this year alone saw the death of 85 people due to such natural disasters.
"The country is becoming more and more prone to natural disasters.
Precipitation is already over the norm, so next spring there will be a
real danger of landslides and mountain floods," Emil Akmatov, a spokesman
at the MEE, told IRIN in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44844&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
PAKISTAN: NGOs and government respond to massive tsunami needs
A 12-member medical team form Pakistan's largest charity, the Edhi
Foundation, left on Friday for Sri Lanka with more than five mt of
life-saving and other emergency medicines, responding to an appeal from
the Sri Lankan government for help in dealing with victims of the Indian
Ocean tsunami tragedy that struck the region on 26 December. The huge
tidal waves killed at least 140,000 people and made five million homeless
in nations bordering the Indian Ocean and further afield. "Other than this
consignment, the team is also carrying cash to purchase medicines directly
from there. Then, as we've not any direct flight from Pakistan for
Indonesia the team will move from Sri Lanka to the worst-hit province of
Indonesia, Aceh," Anwar Kazmi, a spokesman of the Edhi Foundation, told
IRIN from the southern port city of Karachi.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44882&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: ADB approves loan for Kashmir development
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $57 million loan for a
multi-sector rehabilitation and improvement project, aimed at improving
the physical and social infrastructure in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
"Our interventions are basically in five areas including roads, education,
health, power supply and water and sanitation," Shaukat Shafi, a project
implementation officer at ADB's country branch, told IRIN in the Pakistani
capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44831&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Navy assisting in tsunami relief
Following the series of tidal waves or tsunamis that devastated many
Indian Ocean nations on Sunday, two ships from the Pakistani navy have
extended their stay in the Maldives to participate in relief operations in
disaster-hit areas. "We arrived here last Saturday on a
goodwill-cum-training visit, but as the following day the tragic
earthquake disrupted normal life and civic facilities throughout the
coastal line and also in this country, so we got involved in relief
activities," Commodore Asif Sandila told IRIN from Male, the Maldives
capital, on Wednesday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44849&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Islamabad warned over slow response to HIV/AIDS
Pakistan must expand the multi-sectoral response at all levels to avert
the threat of an HIV/AIDS epidemic becoming established among the general
population, according to a progress review mission. According to the
findings of the HIV/AIDS joint review mission, the country no longer
stands in the category of low HIV prevalence as a concentrated epidemic
has already occurred among injecting drug users (IDUs), with a prevalence
rate of about 7 percent in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. The
joint review and scooping mission included representatives of the
country's National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), UN agencies and other
development partners.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44881&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
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