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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Fax: +92-51-2211 450 
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 21
21 - 27 May 2005


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Northern IDPs begin to return from south
AFGHANISTAN: New counter-narcotics force records successes
AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Stricter rules for Afghans
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: UNHCR monitoring events along Uzbek border
KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Status of Uzbek asylum seekers unclear
NEPAL: Kala-azar disease prevalent in lowland region
NEPAL: National report fails to stress the impact of conflict on children
PAKISTAN: Polluted water continues to kill in Sindh
PAKISTAN: ADB loan to boost agribusiness
PAKISTAN: Eight million child labourers - rights body
TAJIKISTAN: New campaign by ILO aims to raise awareness amongst labour
   migrants
TAJIKISTAN: Interview with Vladimir Sotirov, head of UN peace-building
   office in Tajikistan
UZBEKISTAN: Local activists say 3,000 missing, over 1,000 dead after
   Andijan killings
UZBEKISTAN: Further crackdown on human rights feared
UZBEKISTAN: Independent media face reprisals after Andijan unrest


AFGHANISTAN: Northern IDPs begin to return from south

Zahir Khan, a 50-year-old internally displaced person (IDP) was seen off 
by his friends in the Zar-e-Dash camp in the southern Afghan province of 
Kandahar on Sunday. The father of seven was beginning his journey home 
to the town of Qaisar in the northwestern province of Faryab. Khan was 
displaced because of discrimination and harassment against ethnic 
Pashtuns in the north after the collapse of the hardline Taliban regime 
in late 2001. The Taliban drew their support from Pashtuns and after 
their fall many ordinary people from the same ethnic group were 
associated with them.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47264&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: New counter-narcotics force records successes

The newly-trained Afghan Special Narcotics Force (ASNF) is increasing 
operations following several successful raids on illegal narcotics 
activities in different parts of the country, the Ministry of the 
Interior announced on Thursday. "In just two weeks ASNF has had 
significant achievements in two major raids in the east and south. This 
means we are making greater progress," general Daud Daud, Afghan deputy 
interior minister for counter narcotics told IRIN in the capital Kabul, 
as he marked the success of recent ASNF operations against drug 
traffickers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47325&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Stricter rules for Afghans

The Director General of the Iranian interior ministry's Bureau of Aliens 
and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) has announced stricter 
limitations on Afghans living in Iran, the reformist daily newspaper 
Sharq reported on Sunday. Ahmad Hosseini said Afghans will not be 
allowed to settle in parts of Sistan Baluchestan, a south-eastern 
province that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, southern Khorasan, an 
eastern province that borders Afghanistan or Turkmenistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47243&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-IRAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

The plight of hundreds of Uzbek refugees who fled to neighbouring 
Kyrgyzstan after Uzbek security forces violently suppressed protests in 
the eastern city of Andijan two weeks ago continued to dominate the 
news. Early in the week, some senior Kyrgyz government officials 
reportedly said that they might be sent back home. But Adakhan 
Madumarov, deputy prime minister, maintained on Friday that none of the 
500 Uzbek refugees would be deported from Kyrgyzstan by force.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47360&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: UNHCR monitoring events along Uzbek border

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 
is monitoring events in southern Kyrgyzstan after some 500 asylum 
seekers crossed the border from neighbouring Uzbekistan to escape 
violence last week. "We have teams on the ground closely watching the 
situation," Carlos Zaccagnini, chief of mission for UNHCR in Kyrgyzstan 
told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek on Monday, noting that while 
the situation had stabilised, they were on standby should another influx 
of asylum seekers cross from Uzbekistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47244&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN


KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN: Status of Uzbek asylum seekers unclear

The status of hundreds of Uzbek asylum seekers in Kyrgyzstan who fled 
recent violence in the eastern Uzbek province of Andijan remains 
unclear. "Currently, they are [considered] displaced persons," Zafar 
Khakimov, head of the Kyrgyz migration service, told IRIN from the 
capital, Bishkek, on Tuesday. "They get the status of refugee only after 
official inquiries conducted under the UN Convention on Refugees, have 
been completed."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47285&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN-UZBEKISTAN


NEPAL: Kala-azar disease prevalent in lowland region

Bechaini Debi Chaudhari is frightened she may die from Kala-azar, a 
deadly fly-borne disease, which is fatal if left untreated. She has been 
undergoing treatment for the last 45 days and is still not cured. "We 
have spent so much money and now we cannot afford any more," her son, 
Rameswar Chaudhari, told IRIN. The family owns only a small plot of 
agricultural land, which they mortgaged to take out a loan of US$500 to 
pay for Chaudhari's treatment.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47270&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: National report fails to stress the impact of conflict on 
children

Human rights organisations have criticised the Nepalese government for 
failing to place enough emphasis on the gross violation of children's 
rights as a result of the current armed conflict between government 
forces and Maoist guerillas in its second periodic report to the United 
Nations Committee on Rights of the Child (CRC). "In many ways, Nepal was 
not a country fit for children," said committee expert Lucy Smith during 
a review of the Nepal report by the CRC on 20 May, at the headquarters 
of the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47357&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


PAKISTAN: Polluted water continues to kill in Sindh

More than 75 people, mostly children, have been reported dead after 
drinking polluted water while another 6,600 have been hospitalised over 
last six weeks across Pakistan's southern province of Sindh, a health 
activist told IRIN. He also expressed grave concern over the negligence 
of water and sanitation authorities. "The entire summer season is lying 
ahead but local municipal authorities have not taken any steps to 
improve the situation. Contaminated water is continuously being supplied 
and people are falling ill but no one is bothering to stop this," Dr 
Ghulam Mustafa Talpur, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47296&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: ADB loan to boost agribusiness

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $31 million loan to 
help develop the sustainable agribusiness sector in Pakistan. The 
project will help promote the entire production chain from input supply 
to processing and exports. "This demand-driven programme is to boost 
agribusiness with a special focus on horticulture, livestock and related 
sectors," Salim Jhagra, joint secretary at the food, agricultural and 
livestock ministry, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47276&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Eight million child labourers - rights body

An estimated eight million children are currently working in Pakistan, 
with almost two-thirds employed full-time, according to the annual 
report of the country's leading child rights society. "The basic rights 
of the children - education, health and protection are being grossly 
violated in the form of child labour in a wide range of sectors that are 
often hazardous and difficult to access," Zarina Jillani, a child rights 
activist working with the Society for the Protection of the Rights of 
the Child (SPARC), told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47352&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: New campaign by ILO aims to raise awareness amongst labour 
migrants

A new project to be launched in June by the International Labour 
Organisation (ILO) is going to fight human trafficking and forced labour 
by raising the awareness of thousands of Tajik labour migrants before 
they travel abroad seeking employment. "Our purpose is to train 
potential labour migrants, so that they take their actions consciously 
and travel [to destination countries] having planned all their further 
moves, not on the spur of the moment," Jamshed Kuddusov, ILO's project 
coordinator, told IRIN in the capital, Dushanbe, on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47323&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: Interview with Vladimir Sotirov, head of UN peace-building 
office in Tajikistan

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has prolonged, by agreement 
with the Security Council, the activities of the (UNTOP) for another 
twelve months until 1 June, 2006. UNTOP was established on June 1, 2000 
after the withdrawal of the UN observer mission from Tajikistan. It has 
been instrumental in helping to build democratic institutions and foster 
peace in the country in the vulnerable post-civil war period. The UN 
body provided technical assistance before and during parliamentary 
elections in February 2005.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47322&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Local activists say 3,000 missing, over 1,000 dead after 
Andijan killings

More than a week after government security forces fired on protesters in 
the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan, residents continue to count their 
dead, while local human activists report more than 3,000 residents 
remain unaccounted for. "Our representatives in Andijan talk about 3,000 
people missing," Vasilya Inoyatova, head of the Ezgulik human rights 
group, told IRIN from Tashkent. She noted many people were afraid to go 
to the police to report their sons or relatives missing fearing possible 
persecution.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47268&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Further crackdown on human rights feared

International rights groups have warned of a further increase in human 
rights violations in Uzbekistan, where upwards of 1,000 people are 
feared dead and scores missing in the eastern city of Andijan after 
being gunned down by government forces nearly two weeks ago. "We are 
concerned over a possible further crackdown and have already seen the 
beginnings of it," Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human 
Rights Watch (HRW) Europe and Central Asia division, told IRIN from New 
York, citing incidents of local rights activists being called in for 
questioning.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47321&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Independent media face reprisals after Andijan unrest

Independent journalists and local reporters working for foreign media, 
who witnessed recent violence in the eastern city of Andijan, came under 
increased pressure and were subjected to serious criticism, as 
Uzbekistan faces continuing demands for an independent international 
investigation into the killings of 13 May. The government-run Russian 
language newspaper 'Pravda Vostoka' (The Truth of the East) on Wednesday 
described some local reporters of foreign media as "mercenaries who are 
ready to sell their homeland for thirty pieces of silver." The criticism 
was contained in an article entitled "In defence of National Sovereignty 
of the Uzbek Nation", which ran to almost a full page.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47317&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


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