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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 190
18 - 24 August 2008


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Drought in north hits animal husbandry, threatens
   livelihoods
AFGHANISTAN: UN renews call for food aid funding
AFGHANISTAN: Dust storms cause health problems in west
AFGHANISTAN: Sharifa, "If we had roads, cars and clinics in our
   village, my baby would not have died"
CAMBODIA: Questions over legality of evictions in name of development
CAMBODIA: Methamphetamine usage rising
CAMBODIA: Freshwater fish resources under increasing pressure
EAST ASIA: Saving the "Amazon of the Seas"
KYRGYZSTAN: Draft law to curb formula milk sales, boost breastfeeding
MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit farmers switch to fishing
MYANMAR: Hope fades for cyclone missing
MYANMAR: Dengue fever still a risk in cyclone-hit south
NEPAL: WFP calls on donors to act now
NEPAL: Over 35,000 displaced by floods in southeast
PAKISTAN: New tactics in anti-polio drive as more cases emerge
PAKISTAN: Preparations in Punjab for possible flooding
PAKISTAN: Restive tribal area faces mass displacements
PHILIPPINES: "Worrying humanitarian situation" in Mindanao after
   fighting
PHILIPPINES: Typhoon Nuri leaves six dead, 5,000 displaced
THAILAND: Worst Mekong river flooding in 100 years
THAILAND: Government plan to boost domestic rice production
THAILAND: Medical emergency teams thwarted by dense Bangkok traffic
THAILAND: Alarm bells over possible tidal surge
VIETNAM: Employing improved technology against typhoons, flooding
VIETNAM: New threat of flooding in south


AFGHANISTAN: Drought in north hits animal husbandry, threatens 
livelihoods

A severe drought affecting northern parts of Afghanistan has dried 
pasturelands, reduced water sources and caused the deaths of thousands 
of animals, local people and officials said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79865


AFGHANISTAN: UN renews call for food aid funding

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Kai 
Eide has called on donors to respond quickly to a US$404 million appeal 
made a month ago to ease the impact of drought and high food prices.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79881


AFGHANISTAN: Dust storms cause health problems in west

Unusually strong winds carrying dust from the parched land have 
increased respiratory and eye diseases in western Afghanistan, according 
to health and environmental officials.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79900


AFGHANISTAN: Sharifa, "If we had roads, cars and clinics in our village. 
my baby would not have died"

Sharifa, 23, was banded on a wooden ladder and taken to a hospital in 
Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan Province, northeastern 
Afghanistan, where she gave birth to a stillborn child and was told that 
she would never have children again.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79958


CAMBODIA: Questions over legality of evictions in name of development

Vanndy Sambath had lived next to Phnom Penh's lush Boeng Kak lake for 
years, peacefully growing vegetables and accommodating tourists to 
support his family. That all changed in 2006, when a contractor arrived 
and announced government-sponsored plans to fill in the lake, forcing 
his neighbourhood to relocate in the future.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79863


CAMBODIA: Methamphetamine usage rising

Shirtless, with crude tattoos and scabs on his upper arms, 24-year-old 
Thom has been living on the streets of Phnom Penh for the past four 
years, one of a growing number of youths struggling with their addiction 
to crystal methamphetamine, also known as "ice".

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79917


CAMBODIA: Freshwater fish resources under increasing pressure

Each year, between July and October, Cambodia's Tonle Sap river, swollen 
by monsoon rain and excess flow from the nearby Mekong River, reverses 
its course. As water pours back into Cambodia's Great Lake, swelling its 
size by over four times, the flood-plain is transformed into a vast 
breeding ground for over 250 species of fish - a vital source of 
livelihoods and sustenance for Cambodia's rural poor.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79937


EAST ASIA: Saving the "Amazon of the Seas"

In the Indo-Pacific area, a 5.7 million square kilometre triangle 
contains over one-third of all known coral species on earth, over half 
the world's coral reefs, over 3,000 fish species, the greatest extent of 
mangrove forests of any region in the world, and the spawning ground for 
the largest tuna fishery in the world.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79862


KYRGYZSTAN: Draft law to curb formula milk sales, boost breastfeeding

A draft law on promoting breastfeeding as a means of tackling health and 
nutrition problems among infants is being discussed in Kyrgyzstan.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79878


MYANMAR: Cyclone-hit farmers switch to fishing

Under normal circumstances 45-year-old farmer Maung Win would be busy 
with his paddy fields at this time of year. "This year, I'm going in for 
fishing," he told IRIN in a village outside Mawlamyinegyun township, 
deep inside Myanmar's cyclone-affected Ayeyarwaddy Delta.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79866


MYANMAR: Hope fades for cyclone missing

Soe Naing was in the town of Labutta at the far end of Myanmar's 
Ayeyarwaddy Delta when the cyclone obliterated his village, sweeping 
away his wife and three daughters.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79905


MYANMAR: Dengue fever still a risk in cyclone-hit south

Health experts have credited effective interventions for preventing an 
increase in dengue fever in Myanmar's cyclone-hit south, but warn that 
risks remain.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79959


NEPAL: WFP calls on donors to act now

The World Food Programme (WFP) is calling for urgent assistance to ease 
the food crisis in the hills and mountains of Nepal's far- and mid-west 
regions.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79886


NEPAL: Over 35,000 displaced by floods in southeast

Heavy flooding has displaced over 35,000 people in Sunsari District in 
Nepal's southeastern Terai region, officials from the Ministry of Home 
Affairs (MOHA), have said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79940


PAKISTAN: New tactics in anti-polio drive as more cases emerge

Turab Khan, 24, is finding life tough in Peshawar, the capital of 
Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP). "I have not found a job 
yet and am actually not really qualified for anything as I have worked 
with my family's goats most of the time till now," he told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79864


PAKISTAN: Preparations in Punjab for possible flooding

Fears that heavy rain could cause the River Sutlej to burst its banks 
and flood Pakistan's most populous province, Punjab, have prompted 
hectic preparations to avert a potential calamity.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79897


PAKISTAN: Restive tribal area faces mass displacements

Mohammad Jameel, aged around 30, along with his extended family of 35 
people, is among thousands of local residents forced to flee their 
village in the restive Bajaur tribal agency, north of Peshawar.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79912


PHILIPPINES: "Worrying humanitarian situation" in Mindanao after 
fighting

President Gloria Arroyo has called for major humanitarian relief 
assistance on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao and ordered 
government troops to crush Muslim separatist rebels after a rampage in 
recent days left 38 people dead, most of them defenceless civilians.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79901


PHILIPPINES: Typhoon Nuri leaves six dead, 5,000 displaced

Typhoon Nuri, the 12th storm to hit the Philippines this year, was 
blowing out of the country on 21 August after dumping heavy rain across 
large parts of northern Luzon Island, causing landslides and flooding, 
and killing at least six people, disaster relief officials said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79913


THAILAND: Worst Mekong river flooding in 100 years

It is 4pm and Pranee Soongkhaeng is hurriedly piling up sandbags in a 
bid to prevent flooding in front of her shop on Meechai Street in Nhon 
Khai Province, northeast Thailand, close to the Mekong river bank. 
Sandbags are stacked in front of every row of houses along the riverside 
road to prevent inundation.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79869


THAILAND: Government plan to boost domestic rice production

Thailand's Finance Ministry has announced it will lease some 160,000 
hectares (ha) of unused state-owned land to poor farmers and 
agri-businesses to boost domestic rice production. The programme is part 
of a campaign by Thailand - already the world's largest rice exporter - 
to boost rice production and help ward off a possible global food 
crisis.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79885


THAILAND: Medical emergency teams thwarted by dense Bangkok traffic

The death rate of injured patients cared for and transported by 
Thailand's hodge-podge of volunteer and hospital-owned emergency medical 
services and ambulances is high, particularly in Bangkok, according to 
safety authorities.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79927


THAILAND: Alarm bells over possible tidal surge

Wandee Niamhom has been living by the Bang Khunthian seashore all of his 
life. When the 57-year-old shrimp farmer heard recent warnings that a 
large storm surge could hit Bangkok and affect his own area between 
September and December, he became a bit scared and started making 
preparations.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79938


VIETNAM: Employing improved technology against typhoons, flooding

Vietnam is experiencing more frequent and powerful typhoons and floods, 
and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report 
2007-2008 has said as many as 22 million Vietnamese could be displaced 
if sea levels rise by one metre.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79890


VIETNAM: New threat of flooding in south

Aid officials say emergency supplies have reached nearly all of those 
affected by recent heavy flooding in northern Vietnam. But as clean-up 
efforts continue, the country faces a fresh assault as river levels rise 
dangerously in the south.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79941[END]


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