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 189
11 - 17 August 2008


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Hike in fuel price inflates cost of food
AFGHANISTAN: ICRC assists thousands of displaced people
AFGHANISTAN: Families of killed police lack support
AFGHANISTAN: Returnees bemoan government's "empty promises"
BANGLADESH: Drop in tiger population signals environmental degradation
INDONESIA: TB battle hampered by geography and lack of funds
KYRGYZSTAN: Anthrax cases among humans on the rise
LAOS: First community-run radio station strikes a chord
LAOS: New veterinary law targets bird flu
MYANMAR: Pregnant women a priority for health services
MYANMAR: May Thet, Myanmar, "I feel like crying when I see my friends
   going to school"
NEPAL: Analysts warn of rising ethnic tensions
PAKISTAN: High-tech survey tool offers new hope to disaster-hit
   communities
PAKISTAN: Monsoon woes aggravated by poor housing
PHILIPPINES: Tens of thousands displaced in fresh fighting
PHILIPPINES: Displaced villagers in Mindanao begin to return home
SRI LANKA: Aid reaching IDPs in north though supply lines under
   pressure - UN
SRI LANKA: Children stunted, wasted, underweight - government health
   survey
VIETNAM: Floods in north leave 145 dead or missing and communities
   isolated
VIETNAM: Relief being delivered to flood victims and damage assessments
   underway


AFGHANISTAN: Hike in fuel price inflates cost of food

A sharp increase in fuel prices has pushed up the already high cost of 
food in Afghanistan making daily survival even more difficult for 
millions of vulnerable people.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79744


AFGHANISTAN: ICRC assists thousands of displaced people

Over 9,500 people displaced from their homes by conflict in southern and 
central Afghanistan have received food and non-food assistance from the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Geneva-based 
organisation said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79769


AFGHANISTAN: Families of killed police lack support

The Afghan police are suffering increasing casualties as the violence 
intensifies, but the families of killed or injured police officers get 
little, if any, financial support from the government.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79795


AFGHANISTAN: Returnees bemoan government's "empty promises"

Over five million Afghan refugees have repatriated mostly from 
neighbouring Pakistan and Iran over the past six years, according to the 
UNHCR, but some do not have land or housing.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79813


BANGLADESH: Drop in tiger population signals environmental degradation

A further drop in the number of Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans is 
a stark reminder of the importance of the world's largest mangrove 
forest, which was badly damaged in last year's devastating cyclone.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79765


INDONESIA: TB battle hampered by geography and lack of funds

Anwar, a 32-year-old accounting professional, never thought he would 
contract tuberculosis (TB), a disease usually associated with poverty 
and urban squalour. He told IRIN he had had a persistent cough for a few 
weeks last year and then one day saw blood in his sputum.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79766


KYRGYZSTAN: Anthrax cases among humans on the rise

Anthrax in animals has long been endemic in southern Kyrgyzstan, but 
since 2006 an increasing number of human cases have been registered.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79812


LAOS: First community-run radio station strikes a chord

In developing countries, people often find it impossible to access 
information to help improve their living conditions. Dua Jung, an ethnic 
Hmong villager living in the remote Khoun District of northern Xieng 
Khouang Province, Lao PDR, told IRIN: "A lot of Hmong people in my 
village and people in villages throughout Khoun are poor and 
illiterate."

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79748


LAOS: New veterinary law targets bird flu

A new Veterinary Law passed on 25 July is good news in the fight against 
avian influenza (AI - bird flu), given that Laos is surrounded by 
neighbours that have suffered severe AI outbreaks.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79817


MYANMAR: Pregnant women a priority for health services

Khim Mar Tun almost died when Cyclone Nargis devastated her village in 
May. "Our whole village was swept away," the 28-year-old told IRIN. "Of 
the eight people in my family, four died. All of them were washed away."

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79751


MYANMAR: May Thet, Myanmar, "I feel like crying when I see my friends 
going to school"

Three months after Cyclone Nargis struck, most of the estimated 2.4 
million storm-affected people are still struggling to rebuild their 
lives. May Thet, a teenage girl, has become the chief family 
breadwinner, collecting empty water bottles to sell in Mawlamyinekyun, 
one of the hardest-hit areas.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79848


NEPAL: Analysts warn of rising ethnic tensions

Failure to address the grievances of Nepal's various indigenous and 
ethnic groups may result in further ethnic tension, warn analysts.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79818


PAKISTAN: High-tech survey tool offers new hope to disaster-hit 
communities

The sight of humanitarian assessment teams moving through calamity-hit 
villages and punching data into small, hand-held computers as they 
interview villagers may soon become routine in Pakistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79760


PAKISTAN: Monsoon woes aggravated by poor housing

Rubina Bibi, 35, has not been able to go to work at the bungalow where 
she is employed as a cleaner since the morning of 12 August. "The rain 
began falling really hard just as I was starting out yesterday morning. 
The lane outside my house filled within minutes, making it impossible to 
walk out on foot," she told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79797


PHILIPPINES: Tens of thousands displaced in fresh fighting

At least 130,000 villagers in the southern island of Mindanao have been 
displaced in fresh fighting as troops struggle to flush out a band of 
Islamic separatist rebels who illegally occupied 22 villages in the 
province of Cotabato after a land deal was aborted by the Supreme Court 
last week, officials said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79788


PHILIPPINES: Displaced villagers in Mindanao begin to return home

Thousands of villagers displaced by fighting between government troops 
and Muslim separatist rebels have been trickling back to their 
devastated communities on Mindanao Island, but tension remains high and 
the process of rebuilding could take a long time, government and 
humanitarian officials said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Asia-Country.aspx?Country=PH


SRI LANKA: Aid reaching IDPs in north though supply lines under pressure 
- UN

Adequate supplies are reaching new internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
in Sri Lanka's northern areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers, UN and 
humanitarian relief officials in the capital, Colombo, told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79825


SRI LANKA: Children stunted, wasted, underweight - government health 
survey

Few die at childbirth, most go to primary school and almost all are 
vaccinated at the right time, but the sizeable number of Sri Lankan 
children who are stunted, wasted and underweight for their age are a 
cause for concern, according to nutritional authorities.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79836


VIETNAM: Floods in north leave 145 dead or missing and communities 
isolated

An estimated 145 people are reported dead or missing and more than 4,000 
buildings damaged or destroyed in northern Vietnam after tropical storm 
Kammuri lashed the region with heavy rain and high winds for two days 
from 9 August, according to the Central Committee for Floods and Storm 
Control.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79779


VIETNAM: Relief being delivered to flood victims and damage assessments 
underway

Disaster assessment teams have headed into parts of northern Vietnam 
that were hard hit by tropical storm Kammuri, which caused flooding and 
landslides resulting in the deaths of at least 119 and the evacuation of 
nearly 2,000 people, according to government officials.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79826[END]


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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