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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 137
13 - 19 August 2007


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Afghan deportees complain of lack of aid
AFGHANISTAN: UN highlights conflict's impact on civilians
NEPAL: Activists urge more government action on de-mining
NEPAL: Flood victims face disease, food shortages
PAKISTAN: More dead as fresh rain hits southern provinces
PAKISTAN: Tenants clamour for rights in quake-affected Allai
SRI LANKA: Taking the long route home


AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Afghan deportees complain of lack of aid

Two months after their forced deportation from Iran, Afghan citizen 
Mohammad Alim and his six-member family still have an unsettled life in 
Herat Province, western Afghanistan.

They live in a tent in Jami camp, about 5km northwest of Herat city, 
where his wife Amina, and sister Parween, spend many hours trying to 
give his three children aged 5-10 an education, as they do not go to 
school.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73721


AFGHANISTAN: UN highlights conflict's impact on civilians

Armed conflict in Afghanistan has not only caused hundreds of civilian 
deaths but has also had a negative impact on many aspects of people's 
lives, according to a senior UN official.

"Beyond civilian casualties, people have lost their houses, children 
have been deprived of education, livelihoods have been damaged, and 
displaced families face many problems," Walter Kalin, representative of 
the UN Secretary-General for the human rights of internally displaced 
persons (IDPs), told IRIN on 15 August.

Since April, over 1,060 civilians have died in armed conflicts between 
Taliban insurgents and Afghan security forces backed by international 
troops, according to a confidential report prepared by Afghanistan's 
Ministry of Interior.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73759


NEPAL: Activists urge more government action on de-mining

Anti-landmine activists are concerned at the slowness in clearing 
landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the country. Many 
civilians, including children, continue to be at risk, said Ban 
Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL) on 13 August.

"This is a very serious humanitarian issue. because it is mainly 
Nepalese civilians who are suffering," prominent landmine-ban activist 
Purna Shova Chitrakar told IRIN.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73700


NEPAL: Flood victims face disease, food shortages

Hundreds of families in the country's flood-hit mainly lowland areas 
adjacent to the border with India continue to suffer from displacement, 
food shortages and disease, said aid workers.

According to the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), thousands of families 
are still unable to return home and are increasingly getting sick due to 
lack of food and proper shelter. Those suffering the most are children 
and the elderly.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73766


PAKISTAN: More dead as fresh rain hits southern provinces

At least 51 people have died in the past few days as further heavy rain 
battered Sindh Province, and more rain is forecast in Balochistan. At 
least a dozen homes have reportedly collapsed or been damaged, most of 
them in Karachi. Many others have been flooded.

The governments of Sindh and Balochistan have been put on alert for 
storms and heavy rain.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73695


PAKISTAN: Tenants clamour for rights in quake-affected Allai

Atiq Khan, 55, is having what could be his last cup of tea for a very 
long time with his friends at the bazaar in Bana, headquarters of the 
remote, mountainous Allai area in Batagram District, over 250km from 
Islamabad.

Atiq's sons, both in their 20s, have already left the area with their 
families and now Atiq too is planning to follow them.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73746


SRI LANKA: Taking the long route home

Joseph Ponnaraja, aged 22 and a father of three, does not have the 
faintest idea where he and his family, who have been displaced for just 
over a year, will finally end up living.

They fled their home in the eastern Sri Lankan coastal town of Muttur in 
Trincomalee District on 6 August 2006, when fighting broke out between 
government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73787


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