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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 73
20 - 26 May 2006


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: WFP faces funding crisis
AFGHANISTAN: Unemployment slows returns
AFGHANISTAN: Fighting forces 3,000 to flee
AFGHANISTAN: Four health workers killed in explosion
AFGHANISTAN: UN concerned over recent violence in the south
CENTRAL ASIA: Human rights situation remains poor
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap
IRAN: Iranian dissident receives human rights award
IRAN: Azeris unhappy at being butt of national jokes
KYRGYZSTAN: Malaria creeping back in capital
KYRGYZSTAN: New refugee law brings restrictions for asylum-seekers
KYRGYZSTAN: UNHCR concerned over implementation of new refugee law
NEPAL: Government and rebels start peace talks
NEPAL: Preparations for peace talks under way
NEPAL: Rural people act to reduce child malnutrition
PAKISTAN: Recovery plan for quake zone launched
PAKISTAN: Fear and uncertainty linger seven months after quake
PAKISTAN: Confusion over future of quake landless
PAKISTAN: USAID provides avian flu detection equipment
PAKISTAN: Gastroenteritis kills at least 16
UZBEKISTAN: Opposition activist released on appeal


AFGHANISTAN: WFP faces funding crisis

Food assistance to some 2.7 million vulnerable Afghans this winter,
along with many other food programmes for the country, are now under
threat, unless more than US $30 million in funds are found soon, the
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday. WFP aims
to pre-position 25,000 mt of food in remote areas of the country between
August and October before thousands of isolated and food-insecure
communities are cut off by winter snows.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53545&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Unemployment slows returns

Standing in a long queue under the shadow of towering pine trees outside
the Iranian consulate in the western Afghan city of Herat, 52-year-old
returnee Ghulam Haider plans to go back to neighbouring Iran to find
work. "I thought that living conditions had improved in our country and
there was no further need to stay abroad," said Haider, who returned to
Herat last year along with his 11-member family after having lived in
Iran for nearly 14 years. "Unfortunately, there are no factories or any
other sources of work, but only empty promises from the government," the
former exile complained.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53535&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Fighting forces 3,000 to flee

More than 3,000 villagers are on the move following intense fighting
between the Taliban and security forces in Afghanistan's restive
southern province of Kandahar, officials from the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed on Thursday. "Nearly 3,000
residents of Panjwayi district and another 200 individuals from Ziari
Dasht district have fled their homes due to heavy fighting and have
entered Kandahar city," Mohammad Nasim Karim, head of the IOM office in
Kandahar, told IRIN. "People are in terrible conditions, many complain
that their houses were destroyed and that they have lost some of their
family members during the fighting," Karim explained.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53536&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Four health workers killed in explosion

At least four Afghan health workers were killed when their vehicle was
hit by a land mine in the central province of Wardak, officials
confirmed on Tuesday in the capital Kabul. The blast occurred on Monday
in Jalrees district of Wardak province while the medical team was
travelling towards Daikundi province, Abdullah Fahim, health ministry
spokesman, told IRIN. "Among those who were killed were a doctor, two
nurses and their driver, who were working for a local aid group, the
Afghan Health Development Services (AHDS)," Fahim explained.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53489&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: UN concerned over recent violence in the south

The United Nations has expressed deep concern over a recent upsurge in
violence in Afghanistan's south, calling on government and US-led
coalition forces to ensure the safety of civilians while battling the
insurgents. According to government officials, over 300 people have been
killed this week during clashes between government forces and Taliban
fighters, who have been waging a deadly battle against government and
coalition forces in the war-ravaged nation.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53468&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Human rights situation remains poor

Human rights abuses throughout Central Asia remain common despite some
positive developments towards reform, a new report by Amnesty
International (AI)said on Tuesday. "There are still a lot of serious
issues remaining," Maisy Weicherding, a researcher for the watchdog
group's Eurasia team, covering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and
Uzbekistan, said from London, citing issues of freedom of expression,
slander, libel and arbitrary detention.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53490&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly News Wrap

This week in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan admitted on Monday that it was
incapable of protecting its borders, Financial Times reported on
Tuesday. The Kyrgyz military did not have funds or equipment to police
the 4,500 km border to protect the country from insurgents and drug
traffickers, General Myrzakan Subanov, who used to oversee the former
Soviet republic's border forces, said. A week earlier, an unidentified
armed group, when trying to cross the border from Tajikistan, attacked
Kyrgyz a customs posts at the border, at least eight people died in the
skirmish. The country's border was loosely defined in the Soviet era and
disputes over demarcation complicate security operations.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53553&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


IRAN: Iranian dissident receives human rights award

Iranian journalist and political dissident, Akbar Ganji, has been
awarded the annual Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA).
"He stood out in the eyes of the jury, composed by members of 11
different human rights organisations, in terms of the sacrifices he has
made and the fact that he refused to compromise [for freedom of
expression] in any way," Hans Thoolen, Chairman of the jury of the MEA,
created in 1993 to encourage human rights defenders who are at risk and
therefore in need of immediate protection, said from Geneva.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53517&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


IRAN: Azeris unhappy at being butt of national jokes

Following violent ethnic protests by Iran's minority Azeri community
over a cartoon depicting a cockroach speaking their language, the
Iranian government has suspended the state-owned newspaper responsible
for the publication. The cartoon, published on 19 May in the
Farsi-language government-owned 'Iran' newspaper, offended the Azeri
community, which make up about a quarter of the country's 70 million
population. Protesters, mainly Azeri students, took to the streets in
response to a lack of government action against the paper.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53543&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN


KYRGYZSTAN: Malaria creeping back in capital

The number of malaria cases in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, has risen
sharply over the first four months of the year, with the vast majority
of new infections found amongst internal migrants who have flocked to
the capital in recent years. "In comparison with the same period last
year, there has been a rise in malaria. There were 37 cases registered
from 1 January to 1 May. Last year at that time we registered only four
cases," Adylbek Juzenov, deputy chair of the Bishkek Epidemiological
Department, said in the capital on Wednesday. According to the health
ministry, there were about 250 registered cases of the disease in the
country in 2005.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53508&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: New refugee law brings restrictions for asylum-seekers

Amendments to Kyrgyzstan's refugee law will put new restrictions on
asylum-seekers, who will now have to remain in designated areas in the
country, although it remains unclear if the government has facilities to
house them. "We have had a definition of person who is a refugee in our
law on refugees. However, this concept covered two categories - both
registered refugees and those who are seeking refugee status," Lunara
Joldosheva, a legal consultant at the Kyrgyz parliament, said from the
capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53511&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


KYRGYZSTAN: UNHCR concerned over implementation of new refugee law

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
in Kyrgyzstan has raised concern over the enforcement of the country's
new refugee law. "The UNHCR is not in a position to determine whether
the enacted changes, when implemented, will correspond to international
refugee law," the UN refugee agency said in a statement on Thursday,
adding that the country's parliament adopted the amendments without
waiting for the refugee agency's comments on the issue.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53550&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN


NEPAL: Government and rebels start peace talks

Nepal's new government and Maoist insurgents, who have been waging a
10-year war against the state, are set to begin much anticipated peace
talks on Friday afternoon in the capital,Kathmandu, according to senior
government officials. Held at the country's prominent Gokarna Forest
Resort and Spa, the first round of talks is expected to focus on
preliminary discussions in preparation for the main dialogue scheduled
for Sunday. The new government - which was formed in April by democratic
parties after the Nepalese monarch King Gyanendra gave up his direct
rule following mass protests - has agreed to most of the Maoists demands
and conditions before sitting for peace talks.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53557&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Preparations for peace talks under way

Nepal's new government and the Maoists - who have been waging an armed
rebellion against the state for the past decade - are preparing to hold
peace talks soon, senior government officials said on Monday in the
capital, Kathmandu. "The country has already moved in a positive
direction and we know that the peace talks this time will not fail,"
said Chitralekha Yadav, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives,
referring to the failures of the two rounds of talks in 2001 and 2003
when the government refused the main demands of the Maoists for an
interim government and constituent assembly.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53467&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Rural people act to reduce child malnutrition

Dhaupadi village in Nawalparais district is so remote that many Nepalese
people have no idea that it lies 280 km southwest of the capital,
Kathmandu. But it is here that a remarkable experiment in
self-sufficiency has shown how local people can reduce child
malnutrition rates. According to government figures, around 51 percent
of Nepalese children under five suffer from stunting - a sign of early
chronic malnutrition. The main causes are low food intake, inadequate
access to health services and unsanitary conditions.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53510&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


PAKISTAN: Recovery plan for quake zone launched

After an international launch in New York and Geneva last week,
Pakistan's Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA)
and the UN system in Pakistan have launched a one-year transition
programme this week to bridge the gap from relief to reconstruction in
the country's northern quake-hit zone. With over US $100 million already
secured, the plan offers concrete proposals to channel another $190
million worth of pledges out of a total of over $6 billion committed for
quake relief at last November's donor conference for reconstruction.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53509&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Fear and uncertainty linger seven months after quake

Fareeda Bibi, 38, holds her daughter in her arms as she talks about the
tough task of survival seven months after the quake that killed at least
80,000 people in northern Pakistan in October 2005. The child, Aneesa,
is nearly 10 - too big to comfortably fit her mother's lap, and Fareeda
peers out awkwardly from behind the child's body as she talks to IRIN.
"She starts crying if I leave her alone, even for five minutes. At
night, she wakes in our tent every hour or so, screaming and crying in
fear," she explained.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53487&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Confusion over future of quake landless

A lack of information on assistance for landless quake victims in
northern Pakistan remains a major concern, say some survivors of last
October's devastating regional earthquake, with confusion over which
areas can be built on by returnees and which remain unsafe. "Every day
we are hearing in newspapers and on the radio that our area has been
declared a 'Red Zone', meaning it is prone to seismic activity so no
reconstruction is allowed," said Muhammad Bashir, a resident of a small
hamlet in Balakot valley, 200 km north of the capital, Islamabad.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53470&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: USAID provides avian flu detection equipment

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is to
provide avian flu detection equipment to Pakistan, which should help to
speed up virus detection rates in the country. The new equipment will
allow the National Reference Laboratory to identify particular strains
of the virus within six hours compared to the 24 to 72 hours it
currently requires, the agency said in a press statement. Since February
Pakistan has confirmed the deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu on 28 small
poultry farms, resulting in the culling of more than 120,000 birds.
However, there have been no reports of bird-to-human or human-to-human
cases of bird flu in Pakistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53469&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Gastroenteritis kills at least 16

At least 12 people have been killed since last Thursday in the city of
Faisalabad in Pakistan's central Punjab province following an outbreak
of gastroenteritis, while another four children have died in southern
Hyderabad city in Sindh province from the same disease, provincial
health authorities confirmed on Thursday. "More than 8,000 people,
mostly children with complaints of diarrhoea and gastroenteritis, have
been treated at various public and private medical centres in the city
to date. However, the situation is improving now and the number of
patients is decreasing," Rana Zahid Tauseef, head of Faisalabad's
district government, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53542&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


UZBEKISTAN: Opposition activist released on appeal

A leader of a prominent Uzbek opposition group, sentenced earlier to 10
years in prison for economic crimes, has been released on appeal. Nodira
Hidoyatova, coordinator for the Sunshine Uzbekistan coalition, was
released on Tuesday after the appeals court took into account that she
had already paid around US $100,000 in bail and had two children, head
of the Initiative Group of Independent Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan,
Surat Ikramov, confirmed in the capital, Tashkent.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53532&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN


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