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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 193
8 - 14 September 2008


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Minister disputes call to boost refugee returns
AFGHANISTAN: Self-immolation on the rise among women
AFGHANISTAN: Ethnic antagonism spurs land disputes in north
AFGHANISTAN: Groundwater overuse could cause severe water shortage
BANGLADESH: Country expands despite global warming
BANGLADESH: Health concerns growing as flood waters recede
CAMBODIA: Traffic deaths soar on rapid urbanisation
CAMBODIA: Landmine challenge to development
KYRGYZSTAN: Nuclear waste dumps threaten environment
MYANMAR: Cyclone elderly facing tough times
MYANMAR: Forewarned, not forearmed
NEPAL: Emergency health response to help flood victims
NEPAL: Health and protection concerns for flood-displaced women
PAKISTAN: New plan anticipates worsening IDP crisis
PAKISTAN: Delay in vaccine procurement puts newborns at risk
PAKISTAN: Food inflation spikes over Ramadan
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Revival of cocoa industry boosts livelihoods
PHILIPPINES: Aid agencies call for greater access to displaced
PHILIPPINES: Deadly landslides highlight need for better geo-hazard mapping
PHILIPPINES: Farmers rear goats to beat fertiliser costs
SRI LANKA: Traditional rice helps beat soil salination
SRI LANKA: UN, NGOs to pull out from north
TIMOR-LESTE: Subsidised rice not reaching the poor


AFGHANISTAN: Minister disputes call to boost refugee returns

The Afghan Minister of Refugees and Returnees, Shir Mohammad Etibari, 
has rejected calls by the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to boost 
the repatriation of Afghan refugees.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80218


AFGHANISTAN: Self-immolation on the rise among women

Sarah, 20, set herself ablaze in a desperate bid to end her life after 
four years of marriage to a drug addict in Sheendand District in western 
Afghanistan. Over the past six months, at least 47 self-immolation cases 
have been recorded by Herat city hospital alone, of whom seven were 
saved but 40 died.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80236


AFGHANISTAN: Ethnic antagonism spurs land disputes in north

Hundreds of Pashtun refugees who have returned from Pakistan to 
Afghanistan's northeastern Takhar Province say their properties have 
been seized by local people and militias from other ethnic groups.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80289


AFGHANISTAN: Groundwater overuse could cause severe water shortage

The excessive use of groundwater for a variety of purposes has 
significantly depleted water tables and aquifers throughout Afghanistan 
and if the trend is not reversed soon the country will face a severe 
shortage of drinking water, the Ministry of Water and Energy said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80337


BANGLADESH: Country expands despite global warming

New data suggests that Bangladesh is getting bigger - in contrast to 
earlier predictions that much of the low-lying nation would sink because 
of rising sea levels due to climate change.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80243


BANGLADESH: Health concerns growing as flood waters recede

The incidence of diarrhoea has increased in the wake of heavy flooding 
in 23 out of 64 districts, with flood waters now dropping fast in the 
north, central and south-central regions.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80313


CAMBODIA: Traffic deaths soar on rapid urbanisation

Rapid development and booming urbanisation have led to a doubling in 
traffic fatalities in the past five years, to 4.2 deaths per day in 
2007, according to a government report. That number spiked even higher 
to 4.8 fatalities per day in the first two months of 2008.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80215


CAMBODIA: Landmine challenge to development

Landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Cambodia fell 
to an all-time low of 351 in 2007, further evidence of the downward 
trend since the 1990s. The post-conflict peak was 1996, when Cambodia 
suffered 4,320 landmine or ERW-related deaths and injuries, according to 
a government report.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80292


KYRGYZSTAN: Nuclear waste dumps threaten environment

"I carry clean [drinking] water with my truck to the villages upstream 
almost on a daily basis. I was born here and I remember that in the past 
the road on this side of the river was closed to traffic. They say that 
was because of some mines and radioactive waste tailings," Bakyt told 
IRIN in Kairygach, about 10-15 minutes' drive from Mailuu-Suu.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80271


MYANMAR: Cyclone elderly facing tough times

Of the 2.4 million affected by Cyclone Nargis, about 700,000 people are 
over 55, many of whom lost everything in the storm, according to a 
survey by the NGO HelpAge International, with the most vulnerable highly 
dependent on family and wider communities.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80237


MYANMAR: Forewarned, not forearmed

The Myanmar government says most residents were warned about approaching 
cyclone Nargis, but many failed to take appropriate measures or were 
simply caught off-guard.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80311


NEPAL: Emergency health response to help flood victims

Urgent medical attention is needed for the people displaced by the 
floods on 18 August taking refuge in temporary shelters, including 
school buildings and tented camps, in Sunsari and Saptari districts, 
according to the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS).

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80270


NEPAL: Health and protection concerns for flood-displaced women

Among the 7,000 families living in camps for the displaced since the 
Koshi River - the country's largest - burst its banks on 18 August, 
women and girls are most vulnerable, say agencies, as facilities in 
Sunsari and Saptari districts lack adequate healthcare and protection.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80322


PAKISTAN: New plan anticipates worsening IDP crisis

In response to the displacement of civilians due to floods and conflict 
in parts of Pakistan, a Humanitarian Response Plan has been drawn up 
under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, Fikret Akcura.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80264


PAKISTAN: Delay in vaccine procurement puts newborns at risk

Ghulam Bibi, 20, from a village near the town of Sheikhpura, about 100km 
north of Lahore, capital of Pakistan's most populous Punjab province, is 
struggling to feed her month-old son, Muhammad Hussain. The infant is 
burning with a high fever.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80294


PAKISTAN: Food inflation spikes over Ramadan

Shabana's household is quiet just before iftar, when the fast is broken 
after sunset. This Ramadan there is no flurry of activity at her house 
in Karachi, at a time the women of the house are usually preparing a big 
spread.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80334


PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Revival of cocoa industry boosts livelihoods

The Autonomous Region of Bougainville intends to reclaim the record as 
the biggest producer of cocoa in Papua New Guinea this year. Output in 
Bougainville is expected to exceed last year's level of 15,000 tonnes. 
The latest production report from agricultural authorities in June 
showed that 12,500 tonnes had already been produced this year.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80239


PHILIPPINES: Aid agencies call for greater access to displaced

Many towns and villages remain beyond the reach of aid agencies in the 
southern island of Mindanao as additional government forces move into 
the area to track down Muslim rebels, according to aid agencies.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80269


PHILIPPINES: Deadly landslides highlight need for better geo-hazard 
mapping

A landslide that destroyed 30 homes in a southern mining village and 
left 24 people dead and many missing has highlighted the need for 
extensive geo-hazard mapping in a country that sits on the so-called 
Pacific Rim of Fire and is prone to natural disasters, officials said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80299


PHILIPPINES: Farmers rear goats to beat fertiliser costs

The increasing cost of fertiliser has prompted farmers to invest in 
goats on Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80258


SRI LANKA: Traditional rice helps beat soil salination

Rohana Rosairo has hung a sprig of paddy rice over his front door, a 
good omen for prosperity from the first harvest he reaped a few weeks 
ago from a long unused field. Rosairo's field, across a dirt track from 
his home, was just a mass of weeds until April when he cleared the plot 
and planted seed paddy.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80219


SRI LANKA: UN, NGOs to pull out from north

UN and other humanitarian agencies operating in areas under the control 
of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north will 
relocate staff and assets to government-controlled areas following a 
state directive.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80272


TIMOR-LESTE: Subsidised rice not reaching the poor

Timor-Leste's poorest are missing out on a government rice subsidy 
designed to relieve the pressure of the global food crisis. The 
government imports rice and sells it for US$16 per 32kg bag, regardless 
of the market price, but much of it has not been reaching rural areas, 
where people are less likely to have cash.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80261


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