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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 111
12 - 18 February 2007


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Inadequate care for trauma victims
AFGHANISTAN: Maternal mortality in northeastern Afghanistan among
   worst in world
AFGHANISTAN: Civilians flee their homes in restive south
KAZAKHSTAN: Flooding displaces more than 1,000 in south
NEPAL: Terai villagers fear return of violence
PAKISTAN: Tented schools still dominate in quake area
PAKISTAN: ICRC to continue operations despite attack
PAKISTAN: Afghans to leave within three years
PAKISTAN: Polio health official killed in a bomb blast
TURKMENISTAN: President sworn in amid cautious hope for change


AFGHANISTAN: Inadequate care for trauma victims

The psychological fallout from conflict in Afghanistan over the past three 
decades continues to be neglected. The government estimates that up to 85 
percent of the population may be suffering from varying degrees of trauma. 
The World Health Organization (WHO) officials say that half the population 
has some psychological problems or disorders. Often invisible and largely 
unquantifiable, mental health has been pushed to the background while 
agencies and health personnel focus on the more visible physical ailments. 
The monetary allocation for mental health in 2004 was less than 3.5 
percent of the overall health budget.


AFGHANISTAN: Maternal mortality in northeastern Afghanistan among worst in 
world

With 6,500 maternal deaths per every 100,000 live births, Afghanistan's 
northeastern Badakshan province has the highest maternal mortality rate in 
the world. In the rugged mountainous area there is little or no access to 
healthcare and it takes between four and six days on horse-back or by yak 
to reach the nearest medical facility, provided bad weather has not 
blocked the roads. Villagers say if children or women get sick, they 
either heal themselves or die.


AFGHANISTAN: Civilians flee their homes in restive south

More than 4,000 families fled their homes in the Kajaki district of the 
southern Helmand province due to recent fighting between NATO forces and 
alleged Taliban insurgents, the Afghan independent Pajhwok news website 
reported on 17 February. Around 1,500 had taken refuge in the provincial 
capital of Lashkargah, while the rest migrated to the districts, the 
report said, quoting tribal elders.

Provincial governor Asadollah Wafa conceded that there was a large scale 
migration from Kajaki. Local officials said that they had extended 
emergency assistance to those displaced from Musa Qala and other areas of 
the province and would soon help the people who left Kajaki.


KAZAKHSTAN: Flooding displaces more than 1,000 in south

Flooding in southern Kazakhstan has displaced more than 1,000 people after 
the Syrdarya River burst its banks in several places. There are no reports 
of casualties, but houses along the riverbank have been flooded, the 
Ministry of Emergencies (MOE) reported on 13 Ferbruary.

Flooding has been a major natural hazard in southern Kazakhstan over the 
past few years. While there was no serious flooding in 2006, the flooding 
of 550 sq km of land in 2005 led to the evacuation of more than 500 people 
from areas around the Syrdarya River and the previous year, 2,000 people 
were evacuated after 600 sq km of land was flooded.


NEPAL: Terai villagers fear return of violence

With only one day to go before a 10-day deadline set by Madhesi leaders 
for the government to meet their demands expires, community leaders and 
aid agencies are worried that violence will erupt again in the eastern 
part of Nepal's southern Terai region.

Katahari village, with a population of 6,000, was one of the most severely 
affected areas in the eastern Terai, where villagers said they were 
arrested and beaten by the police for participating in the protests. Many 
said they were just spectators and some were forced to join in the 
protests by the Madhesi leaders. Violence in the eastern Terai from 17 
January to 8 February left 31 dead and thousands more injured. The Madhesi 
demand better rights and representation in the government.


PAKISTAN: Tented schools still dominate in quake area

The earthquake that killled more than 80,000 people in Pakistan in October 
2005 also damaged or destroyed 10,000 schools. While aid agencies have set 
up thousands of tented schools to cope, much more work is needed to clear 
rubble and rebuild education facilities. More than 80,000 people were 
killed, tens of thousands maimed or injured, while more than three million 
people were rendered homeless after the quake ripped through parts of 
northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.


PAKISTAN: ICRC to continue operations despite attack

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on 12 February 
confirmed that the agency would continue its work in Pakistan's North West 
Frontier Province (NWFP), having briefly suspending operations after an 
attack on its office on 10 February.

On 5 February, a grenade was thrown at a compound of the US-based charity 
Save the Children in NWFP's quake-affected Batagram district, injuring two 
Pakistani employees. NWFP was badly affected by the October 2005 
earthquake. Many villages and towns were completely wiped out in the area. 
The province also has a high population of Afghan refugees who rely on aid 
agencies.


PAKISTAN: Afghans to leave within three years

A nationwide campaign to register all Afghan refugees living in Pakistan 
in an effort to validate their stay in exile concluded on 15 February. 
More than 2 million Afghans were registered during the drive. The US $6 
million exercise aimed to provide millions of Afghan refugees with 
official identification valid for a three-year period.

All registered Afghans will have to leave Pakistan by 2009, Nayar Agha, 
head of the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR), told IRIN. As for 
those who failed to register with Pakistani authorities, Agha noted that 
they have a grace period of until 15 April to leave the country. More than 
2.8 million Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Pakistan 
since 2002 under a UN Refugee Agency-assisted voluntary repatriation 
programme.


PAKISTAN: Polio health official killed in a bomb blast

A senior health official was killed and three guards injured in a bomb 
blast in Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan, the BBC reported 
on 16 February. The dead man, Dr Abdul Ghani Khan, played a key role in a 
polio immunisation drive in the Bajaur tribal region. Dr Khan was 
returning from a meeting with tribal elders to persuade them to end their 
opposition to the campaign. It was not clear if he was targeted because of 
his work to eradicate polio in the area, the report said.

The border area is known for its conservatism and the government is facing 
resistance from some tribes in its campaign to vaccinate children against 
polio. Some tribal leaders say the vaccine is a part of a US conspiracy to 
reduce fertility and reproduction rates. Pakistani health officials say 
immunisation refusals have left at least 160,000 children vulnerable to 
polio. In 2006, the Pakistani health ministry reported 39 cases of polio, 
15 of them in the adjacent NWFP. This was a 30 percent increase on 2005. 
Pakistan is one of four polio endemic countries in the world.


TURKMENISTAN: President sworn in amid cautious hope for change

A new Turkmen president has been sworn into office after winning the 
country's first presidential elections in 15 years with a resounding 89 
percent of the vote. Observers are watching the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, 
to see if Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov will honour his campaign pledges of 
social reform, and they question whether the new leader will bring 
political liberalisation to this tightly controlled country. This poll was 
Turkmenistan's first multi-candidate election, with Berdymukhammedov 
beating five challengers. It was also the first time the country has seen 
traditional campaigning.

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