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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 67
8 - 14 April 2006


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns killing of health workers
AFGHANISTAN: Six school children killed in a rocket attack in the east
AFGHANISTAN: IOM assists return of Afghan professionals from
   neighbouring countries
AFGHANISTAN: People in Faryab complain of torture and illegal taxes by
   warlords
AFGHANISTAN: More cases of deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu detected
CENTRAL ASIA: Travellers suffer from border corruption
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
NEPAL: Nationwide protests continue despite government warning
NEPAL: Millions of lives affected by daily curfews
NEPAL: Concern over increasing risks faced by journalists
NEPAL: NGOs voice concern over conflict escalation
NEPAL: Civilians live in fear of increasing violence
NEPAL: UN concerned over excessive police force
NEPAL: UNICEF and NGOs call for children to be protected from violence
NEPAL: King calls for talks with opposition parties
PAKISTAN: Hijras caught in no man's land between two genders
TAJIKISTAN: Demining on the Afghan border started
TURKMENISTAN: WHO praises bird flu measures
UZBEKISTAN: Living without news
UZBEKISTAN: On the way to achieving UN development goals


AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns killing of health workers

The United Nations on Monday condemned the killing of five health
workers in Afghanistan's northwestern province of Badghis, while calling
on the government to protect the safety of those who assist the most
vulnerable people. Five health ministry workers, including nurses,
doctors and a driver, were killed when unidentified gunmen fired on them
in their clinic late on Sunday in the Qadis district of Badghis
province, according to officials.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52717&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Six school children killed in a rocket attack in the east

At least six children were killed and another 14 injured after a rocket
hit their school in eastern Kunar province, officials said on Tuesday.
The rocket landed in the yard of the Salabagh primary school in the
provincial capital of Asadabad, close to a US-led coalition base, said
Zahidullah Zahid, a spokesman for the governor's office in volatile
Kunar province.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52735&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: IOM assists return of Afghan professionals from
neighbouring countries

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Ministry of
Afghan Diaspora and Experts (MoADE) on Wednesday launched a new stage of
the Return of Qualified Afghans (RQA) programme, which will focus on
return and recruitment of Afghan experts from neighbouring countries.
"Given the enormous need for qualified Afghans to return and to
participate in the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts of
Afghanistan, the project aims at filling human resource gaps in
Afghanistan's public sector, centrally as well as at provincial level,"
Richard Scott, chief of IOM's mission in Afghanistan, told a press
briefing in the capital Kabul.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52772&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: People in Faryab complain of torture and illegal taxes by
warlords

Sitting in a small restaurant in a busy bazaar in Maimana, capital of
Afghanistan's northern Faryab province, Abdul Hadi, 36, worries out loud
over the fate of his family in Kata Kala village, some 80 km away. "I
don't know what will happen to my family after I fled 13 days ago,"
lamented Abdul Hadi, after a local warlord tried to extract a US $1,200
illegal tax on some land he had sold.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52759&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: More cases of deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu detected

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in a third province
of Afghanistan, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) confirmed
on Thursday. "Logar province is the third province in the country where
the deadly H5N1 virus has been detected since last month," FAO public
information officer, Assadullah Azhari, said in the Afghan capital,
Kabul.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52782&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Travellers suffer from border corruption

High levels of corruption and tough bureaucratic procedures are making
normal border crossings between Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
very difficult for the countries' citizens. "They took my passport and
said that I wouldn't be allowed to enter Tashkent [the capital of
Uzbekistan] to visit my relatives," Mila, a young Kazakh woman, said,
alleging some US $35 had been taken from her in Chernyaevka on the
northern Uzbek-Kazakh frontier, about 50 km from the Uzbek capital.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52737&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia started with some 2,000 Kyrgyz demonstrators
protesting on Saturday in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, demanding
constitutional and judicial reforms, and protesting against a court
decision to allow Rysbek Akmatbaev, an alleged criminal boss, to run in
one of the parliamentary by-elections, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL) reported. Kyrgyz NGO-leader Edil Baisalov, one of the
organisers of the demonstration, was reportedly attacked on Wednesday
and later hospitalised. US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on
Kyrgyzstan on Friday to hold a thorough inquiry into the attack, Reuters
reported the same day.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52803&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


NEPAL: Nationwide protests continue despite government warning

Over half a million demonstrators took part in democratic rallies
throughout Nepal on Saturday, despite severe restrictions imposed by the
royal government to prevent any political demonstrations against King
Gyanendra. For the past three days, the seven main opposition parties
had been organising nationwide strikes and peaceful rallies to force the
king to give up absolute control over the Himalayan kingdom, which he
has been ruling directly with a handful of royalist ministers since 1
February 2005, after suspending the democratic government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52701&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Millions of lives affected by daily curfews

Millions of Nepalis have been affected by a day-long curfew imposed in
the capital and other major cities for the second consecutive day by the
royal government, said the country's key human rights coalition group,
on Sunday. "The curfew has severely affected the dignity and freedom of
the citizens," said activist Subodh Pyakhurel from Insec.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52705&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Concern over increasing risks faced by journalists

In the district of Dhading, 120 km southwest of the capital Kathmandu,
working life is not easy for journalist Sitaram Adhikary, who often
finds himself caught between the state and the Maoists who have been
waging a violent rebellion for the past 10 years. Surrounded by barbed
wire and security check posts, the fortified urban centre of Dhading is
considered a high-alert security zone due to the large presence of the
heavily armed Maoist militia in the nearby villages.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52725&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: NGOs voice concern over conflict escalation

NGOs in Nepal are becoming increasingly concerned over the impact the
ongoing conflict is having on rural communities. More than 13,000 people
have died since the Maoists launched their armed insurgency against the
government in 1991. "We have a very clear view of what is happening. The
situation is clearly worsening," Richard Fichtl, Country Representative
for the French NGO, Terre des homes, told IRIN in the capital,
Kathmandu.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52714&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Civilians live in fear of increasing violence

Ambika Khatri is too scared to even peep out of her window due to the
12-hour curfew, imposed for the fourth consecutive day by the royal
government in Nepal's major cities and towns to prevent further mass
democratic rallies, which have been taking place across the country over
the past week. Led by the seven main opposition parties, the
demonstrators are calling for an end to the absolute rule of King
Gyanendra, who assumed direct rule in 1 February, 2005 after suspending
the democratic government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52741&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: UN concerned over excessive police force

The United Nations on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the
arrests of peaceful demonstrators by Nepal's security forces and has
called on the royal government to respect the right of citizens to hold
peaceful rallies. "Detention conditions for the hundreds of people
already held are seriously unsatisfactory. We are still visiting and
monitoring the condition of those many people injured by the grossly
disproportionate use of force by police in recent days," said Kieran
Dwyer, spokesman for UN office of High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) in Nepal.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52771&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: UNICEF and NGOs call for children to be protected from violence

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Nepal and local NGOs are
concerned over reports of child injuries, arrests and detentions during
recent anti-government rallies in the country and have called on both
the security forces and the protestors to protect children from abuse.
Over the past week, the seven main opposition parties have held
democratic demonstrations during an indefinite nationwide strike in
protest against King Gyanendra, who assumed direct rule on 1 February,
2005 after suspending the democratic government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52786&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: King calls for talks with opposition parties

King Gyanendra on Friday called on Nepal's seven main opposition parties
for a dialogue with his government to 'activate' multiparty democracy,
following a week of violence in the Himalayan kingdom. The king assumed
direct rule on 1 February, 2005 after suspending the democratic
government led by former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, citing his
failure to quell the country's long-standing Maoist insurgency.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52805&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


PAKISTAN: Hijras caught in no man's land between two genders

Looking carefully at her reflection in a shop window, Azra combs out her
dark, somewhat stringy hair. She then coyly flicks the lock back over
her shoulder, adjusts her red 'duppatta' (scarf), and approaches two
women shopping in Pakistan's western city of Lahore. In response to her
high-pitched pleas, and saucy comments about their looks, the women hand
over a few coins - and Azra sways away, her hips swinging as she moves
down the pavement. Azra was born as Azam, in a village close to the
city. Her parents, who already had two daughters, were delighted over
the birth of their first son and distributed sweets through the village
to mark the occasion.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52749&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


TAJIKISTAN: Demining on the Afghan border started

Efforts are now under way to clear landmines along Tajikistan's 1,344
km-long border with Afghanistan, one of the highest mine-risk areas in
the former Soviet republic. "We started demining in one part of the
Tajik-Afghan border on Tuesday, it is around 200 km south of Dushanbe on
the banks of the River Pianj," Jonmahmad Rajahov, head of the Tajik Mine
Action Centre (TMAC), said from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on
Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52766&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN


TURKMENISTAN: WHO praises bird flu measures

The World Health Organization (WHO) has welcomed the Turkmen
government's efforts on its preparedness for a possible bird flu
outbreak in the country, which neighbours Kazakhstan where the virus
resurfaced in March. "We are glad the government requested us [the WHO]
to visit. We have spent three days in the capital [Ashgabat] visiting
laboratories to look at the preparedness [level], if a case [of bird
flu] occurs," Bernardus Ganter, the WHO's regional adviser on
communicable disease surveillance, told IRIN from Denmark's capital
Copenhagen on Tuesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52763&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Living without news

A crowd of young Uzbek men gather near their houses in the Chorsu
district of the capital, Tashkent, to exchange news about local and
international affairs. A lucky few have cable TV and access to Russian
and international news but most have to rely on local sources. "I think
we will soon have a common currency with Russia," one said, having heard
Uzbekistan will be admitted to the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAzEC)
in March this year.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52716&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: On the way to achieving UN development goals

The United Nations office in Uzbekistan launched its first Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) report for the country in the capital,
Tashkent, on Tuesday. The study, complied in cooperation with the
government, provides a snapshot of how the former Soviet republic is
progressing along the road to achieving a series of development-related
objectives by 2015.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52736&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


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