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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 105
30 December 2006 - 5 January 2007


CONTENTS:

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
NEPAL: Low caste communities still suffering discrimination
NEPAL: Former bonded labourers appeal for help from the government
NEPAL: Three-week tetanus vaccination campaign ends successfully
NEPAL: UN arms monitors to begin work next week
PAKISTAN: Former child camel jockeys and the challenge to return home
PAKISTAN: Registration open to more Afghan refugees
PAKISTAN: Families of country's 'disappeared' beaten in Islamabad
protest


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

Kyrgyzstan's parliament on Saturday voted in favour of a new 
constitution in what has been billed as a step towards stability in the 
mountainous former Soviet republic, despite the opposition's boycott of 
the vote. The new law, which shifts power away from the presidency to 
the country's parliament, is a watered-down version of a draft worked 
out on 9 November following a week of opposition protests in the Kyrgyz 
capital, Bishkek, AFP reported.

Full report



NEPAL: Low caste communities still suffering discrimination

Nepal's impoverished low caste 'Dalit' community continue to be 
discriminated against almost 20 years after the caste system was banned, 
human rights activists in Nepal's southwestern city of Nepalganj have 
complained. "We still have to live with the hard reality of being 
discriminated [against] in every aspect of our lives," said Dalit school 
teacher, Hari Bahadur Biswokarma, in Nepalganj, 600 km west of the 
capital Kathmandu.

Full report




NEPAL: Former bonded labourers appeal for help from the government

Hundreds of former bonded labourers, who were freed from slavery nearly 
six years ago in western Nepal, are appealing to the government for 
their proper rehabilitation, reintegration, and financial support. Known 
as 'Kamaiyas', 500 of the former labourers have been staging their 
protest in the capital Kathmandu over the past week, and are now 
planning to seize government lands regardless of the consequences, they 
claim.

Full report



NEPAL: Three-week tetanus vaccination campaign ends successfully

It is hoped that more than one million children have now been vaccinated 
against tetanus as a joint UN-Nepalese Government immunisation programme 
draws to an end. The three-week-long campaign - targeting six- to 
eight-year-olds - saw the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) join 
Nepal's national immunisation programme to help combat the disease that 
continues to pose a serious threat to newborns and their mothers.

Full report



NEPAL: UN arms monitors to begin work next week

The first batch of United Nations arms monitors are to begin their work 
in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, and the southwestern border city of 
Nepalganj, on Monday, Ian Martin, personal representative of the UN 
Secretary-General, confirmed on Friday.

Full report



PAKISTAN: Former child camel jockeys and the challenge to return home

Every morning, Aziz, 12, cycles to school, his satchel balanced 
carefully over the handlebars. His life has changed dramatically over 
the past year and the former camel jockey, who spent five years in the 
Gulf until his return in 2005, is beginning to adapt to a different way 
of life. "I will never forget the camels and being strapped onto those 
beasts. But I now hope I can put that behind me, get an education and go 
on to work in an office," Aziz said in his village near the southern 
Punjab town of Muzaffargarh.

Full report



PAKISTAN: Registration open to more Afghan refugees

An ongoing registration campaign, aimed at providing official 
identification cards to Afghan refugees, is now open to all Afghans 
possessing documentary evidence of their living in Pakistan at the time 
of the 2005 census, officials announced on Thursday. The move applies to 
Afghan refugees still living in the country, who were present in 2005, 
but whose details are missing from the census data.

Full report



PAKISTAN: Families of country's 'disappeared' beaten in Islamabad 
protest

The families of around 20 people who have 'disappeared' in Pakistan 
since 2001 have claimed that they were beaten by police as they 
demonstrated for the return of their relatives last week. The protest, 
held on 28 December outside the military's General Head Quarters (GHQ) 
in Islamabad, was aimed at securing the release of people who have gone 
missing after being picked up by state agencies. "We had planned a 
peaceful 'freedom walk' and simply wanted to hand over a letter at the 
GHQ," said Amina Masood Janjua, whose husband, Masood Janjua, has been 
missing since July 2005.

Full report



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