Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-125: 27-May-07
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network
Tel: +92-51-2211451 Ext 484
Fax: +92-51-2211 450
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk
Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 1125
21 - 27 May 2007
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Higher pay rates for poppy workers in volatile south
NEPAL: Impoverished urban squatters face high risk of poor health
NEPAL-BHUTAN: UNHCR in new move on Bhutanese refugees
NEPAL: Migration takes its toll on villages hit by AIDS
PAKISTAN: Gov't calls for immediate return of aid workers to quake-hit
Bagh
PAKISTAN: Renewed death threats haunt Christian community of 500 in
northwest
PAKISTAN: 12.2 million children to be immunised against polio
PAKISTAN: Aid agencies' dispute with Bagh local authorities rumbles on
SRI LANKA: Many schools in east reopen, though fear persists
SRI LANKA: UN agencies keep up pressure on rebels over under-age
recruitment
SRI LANKA: Creating an oasis for tsunami survivors
SRI LANKA: Thousands of displaced persons begin return to Batticaloa
West
SRI LANKA: UN, NGOs call for quicker access to resettlement communities
TAJIKISTAN: Lake Sarez disaster preparedness proceeding well
AFGHANISTAN: Higher pay rates for poppy workers in volatile south
Thousands of men come to work in the southern Afghan province of Helmand
and neighbouring areas where poppy is vastly cultivated driven by
attractive pay. In 2006, over 2 million people worked at poppy fields
throughout Afghanistan, according to the UN.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72263
NEPAL: Impoverished urban squatters face high risk of poor health
The growing population of the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, has exacerbated
the plight of the city's estimated 50,000 squatters who are among the
poorest people in Nepal, according to a study by local non-governmental
organisation (NGO) Water Aid Nepal.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72319
NEPAL-BHUTAN: UNHCR in new move on Bhutanese refugees
In a move to resolve the crisis faced by over 108,000 Bhutanese
refugees, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is all set to have
direct talks with the Bhutanese government to discuss repatriating the
refugees to their homes and exploring other possible options.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72349
NEPAL: Migration takes its toll on villages hit by AIDS
In the remote Accham district of Nepal, which for years has supplied
cheap migrant labour to India's bustling commercial city, Mumbai,
villages are waking up to the impact of HIV. In the impoverished Ridikot
village, nearly 800km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, eight-year
old Rajan Biswakarma takes out the only photograph of his parents, who
both died of AIDS-related illnesses last year.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72333
PAKISTAN: Gov't calls for immediate return of aid workers to quake-hit
Bagh
The Pakistani government has called for the immediate return of all aid
agencies to quake-affected Bagh district after a suspension of
activities in the region earlier this month. Located in
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Bagh was devastated by the October 2005
earthquake that ripped through much of northern Pakistan, killing more
than 80,000 and rendering more than 3.5 million people homeless.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72264
PAKISTAN: Renewed death threats haunt Christian community of 500 in
northwest
Christians living in the town of Charsadda, in Pakistan's conservative
North West Frontier Province (NWFP) along the border with Afghanistan,
have renewed calls for greater security after a second ultimatum for
them to convert to Islam or be killed.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72283
PAKISTAN: 12.2 million children to be immunised against polio
More than 12 million children are to be immunised against polio this
week in Pakistan as part of the country's overall efforts to eradicate
the disease. A three-day immunisation campaign began on Tuesday. It is
the second this year in 38 high-risk districts throughout the country
and involving almost 31,000 vaccinators working door-to-door.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72305
PAKISTAN: Aid agencies' dispute with Bagh local authorities rumbles on
The international aid community has resumed its operations in
quake-affected Bagh district in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, but a
dispute continues between aid workers and the Bagh local authorities
over restrictions on female employees.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72345
SRI LANKA: Many schools in east reopen, though fear persists
L. Arupragasam is a happy man. The head teacher has finally returned to
his school which is located in Kalavanchchikudi division, Batticaloa
district, eastern Sri Lanka. Last December, Arupragasam, along with 230
of his students had to abandon the school so it could be used as a
shelter for about 2,000 displaced people.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72269
SRI LANKA: UN agencies keep up pressure on rebels over under-age
recruitment
Over the past year, UN agencies in Sri Lanka have tried to keep the
national and international focus on one of the most unfortunate aspects
of Sri Lanka's long-running civil war - under-age recruitment of
children as soldiers in the conflict. According to the United Nations
Children's Agency (UNICEF), currently there are 1,832 outstanding cases
of under-age recruitment by non-state entities.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72309
SRI LANKA: Creating an oasis for tsunami survivors
Trudging up a steep slope laden with buckets of water was not what the
residents of a new settlement for tsunami survivors in southern Sri
Lanka expected to be doing when they moved in several months ago. For
the 250 disaster-stricken families living on a bleak, windswept hillside
in Seenimodera in the Hambantota District, daily treks to a borehole
over a kilometre away took some of the gloss off moving into their new
homes.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72343
SRI LANKA: Thousands of displaced persons begin return to Batticaloa
West
Some 90,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Batticaloa District in
eastern Sri Lanka are in the process of returning to their home villages
in Batticaloa West. With their houses and crops looted, many now face
tough food and livelihood challenges, according to initial reports from
humanitarian agencies.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72342
SRI LANKA: UN, NGOs call for quicker access to resettlement communities
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in Sri Lanka - a grouping of
UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) - has welcomed
government efforts to resettle some 90,000 internally displaced people
(IDPs) in Batticaloa West, in the east of the country, and ensure such
returns are "wholly voluntary and take place in safety and with
dignity".
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72367
TAJIKISTAN: Lake Sarez disaster preparedness proceeding well
Colonel Kadam Maskaev from the Tajik emergency agency has a unique job:
He monitors the world's highest natural dam at Lake Sare in eastern
Tajikistan. The lake was created in 1911 when an enormous landslide
caused by an earthquake in the Pamir Mountains blocked the Murgab River
in the area.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72328
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International web: www.cidi.org
Disaster Information listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Asia www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/casia