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MIDDLE EAST: IRIN-ME Weekly round up 145 for 22 - 28 September 2007

30 Sep 2007 09:36:10 GMT
Source: IRIN

Background

• Israeli-Palestinian conflict

• Iraq in turmoil

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DUBAI, 30 September 2007 (IRIN) - Contents:

IRAQ: Heath services struggle to prevent cholera spreading IRAQ-BRAZIL: First group of Palestinians arrive in Brazil from desert camp IRAQ-PAKISTAN: Iraqi refugees in limbo awaiting third country resettlement IRAQ: Several local NGOs close down in Mosul IRAQ: IDPs in Baghdad suburb stage protest, demand protection IRAQ: Polluted Shat al-Arab threatens life, could spread diseases IRAQ: Nadia Abdel-Qudoos, "Sectarian violence is forcing me to choose my friends" IRAQ: Compensation for damaged property inadequate, say Diyala residents IRAQ: Travel restrictions considered as cholera spreads IRAQ: Khitam Bahir, "I no longer recognise my insurgent son" ISRAEL: Migrant workers' toddlers suffer in makeshift Tel Aviv kindergartens ISRAEL-OPT: Israeli incursion into West Bank refugee camp causes destruction, fear SYRIA: Oil price rises could provoke unrest YEMEN: People struggling with drought on Socotra island YEMEN: Rebellion in north causing psychological problems, say aid workers

IRAQ: Heath services struggle to prevent cholera spreading

Heath organisations and local authorities launched an emergency plan on 20 September to tackle an outbreak of cholera that has killed more than 10 people countrywide.

About 29,000 cases of acute watery diarrhoea have been recorded in Iraq over the past month, including some 1,500 that were caused by cholera, mainly in the northeastern provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Erbil and Kirkuk, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74440

IRAQ-BRAZIL: First group of Palestinians arrive in Brazil from desert camp

The first batch of Palestinians previously living in a squalid refugee camp on the Iraqi-Jordanian border arrived in Brazil on 21 and 22 September and has been receiving medical assistance, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice.

The 35 Palestinians are part of a group of 117 Palestinian refugees who had been living in Ruwaished refugee camp in the desert on the Iraqi-Jordanian border since the fall of late former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74441

IRAQ-PAKISTAN: Iraqi refugees in limbo awaiting third country resettlement

"I can't go back to Iraq. If I do they will kill me," Iraqi asylum seeker Fadhel Nama Audah, 50, said. He could not return because his political connections with Saddam Hussein's regime effectively barred him.

Married with seven children, his eyes welled up with tears as he recalled the overland journey to Pakistan through Iran eight years ago in the hope of finding a better life for his family.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74448

IRAQ: Several local NGOs close down in Mosul

At least five local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have recently closed their offices in Mosul, 390km north of Baghdad, as a result of increased violence against aid workers and volunteers, according to sources within the NGO community.

Of the five, two provided humanitarian assistance to displaced families, one dealt with women's rights and the other two were working with children. One of the latter was supporting children with cancer or psychological problems.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74452

IRAQ: IDPs in Baghdad suburb stage protest, demand protection

Nearly 400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in Baghdad's southern district of Saydiyah took to the streets on 23 September, demanding government protection to enable them to return to their homes.

According to Ali al-Amiri, 44, who represents the displaced families of Sayidyah, 4,730 families, about 23,650 individuals, have been displaced from the once peaceful Saydiyah over the past 18 months due to the increasing sectarian violence in this particular neighbourhood. Nearly 2,000 others have been killed in Saydiyah, he said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74454

IRAQ: Polluted Shat al-Arab threatens life, could spread diseases

High rates of contamination in Iraq's Shat al-Arab river, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the southern province of Basra, threaten life and could spread disease, a specialist told IRIN on 24 September.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74472

IRAQ: Nadia Abdel-Qudoos, "Sectarian violence is forcing me to choose my friends"

Nadia Abdel-Qudoos (not her real name), a 23-year-old dentistry student at Baghdad University, says she has been forced to keep away from her old friends because they belong to a different sect or religion.

"Shia militias from Kadhimiyah, the Baghdad neighbourhood in which I live, came to my house a couple of months ago and told my family that if I didn't keep away from my Sunni and Christian colleagues in college, we were going to pay the price of what they called 'betrayal'.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74473

IRAQ: Compensation for damaged property inadequate, say Diyala residents

Residents of Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad and adjacent to the Iranian border, say the payments they will get from the Iraqi government are insufficient compensation for the damage caused to their property by US and Iraqi forces in recent military operations.

The ethnically mixed province, a major insurgent stronghold, saw heavy fighting in the past few weeks in which warplanes, helicopter gunships and artillery were used against Al-Qaeda insurgents in Iraq. Residents say the fighting left over 5,000 families displaced and in poverty, and damaged hundreds of houses, shops, government buildings and schools. Almost all towns and villages in the province have been affected by the military operations, they say.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74487

IRAQ: Travel restrictions considered as cholera spreads

The Iraqi government will impose travel restrictions in the country if more cases of cholera are confirmed after a warning by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the disease was spreading in Iraq.

"If we verify more cases of cholera in different areas of Iraq, we will impose travel restrictions to prevent a more serious outbreak. We have already been restricting the movement of food between provinces," said Lt-Col Seif Abdel-Karim, a senior official in the Ministry of Interior.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74495

IRAQ: Khitam Bahir, "I no longer recognise my insurgent son"

Khitam Bahir, aged 51, says she was shocked when her 24-year-old son Mustafa (not his real name) became an insurgent. An engineering student, he left college in October 2006 to join a local fighting group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq. She has tried in vain to change his mind.

"I no longer recognise my son since he turned into an insurgent. He used to be a very popular, easy-going and modern person but now he has changed completely. He has decided to fight US-troops, even if he is killed.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74518

ISRAEL: Migrant workers' toddlers suffer in makeshift Tel Aviv kindergartens

Hundreds of toddlers, children of undocumented migrant workers in Israel, are suffering severe physical and mental hardship in squalid informal day care centres in Tel Aviv, a government-funded body, Mesilah, said.

The smell of urine permeates a rundown apartment in southern Tel Aviv where 30 children are kept for long hours each day. The windows are shut for most of the day and there is no air-conditioning despite the heat and humidity.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74446

ISRAEL-OPT: Israeli incursion into West Bank refugee camp causes destruction, fear

Residents of the Ein Beit Alma refugee camp began to pick up the pieces after an intense Israeli military incursion last week left dozens homeless, and many very frightened, especially children. The fighting with Palestinian militants also caused damage to sewer systems, residents said.

Muhammed Msaimi, aged 26, hid for over a day with his wife and three children in the bathroom because of gunfights which took place outside their apartment. However, the bullets found their way into that room as well, and they crawled behind a thick wall, Msaimi, a registered refugee, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74496

SYRIA: Oil price rises could provoke unrest

Over 40 years of subsidising fuel and other vital commodities have benefited the rich more than the poor, encouraged smuggling and cost the state more than it can afford, say Syrian government officials.

Syria's socialist Baath Party government, with its centrally planned economy, has subsidised commodities such as bread, rice and sugar, as well as electricity and fuel by up to 40 percent since it came to power in 1963.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74468

YEMEN: People struggling with drought on Socotra island

Socotra, a small group of Yemeni islands in the Indian Ocean close to the Horn of Africa - and in broad bio-geographical terms closely linked with Africa - has been hit by a severe drought. It started about two months ago, causing a water shortage and the deaths of hundreds of animals, say government officials.

The last time the main island's 45,000 inhabitants experienced serious drought was in 1999. Their livestock died in their thousands as grass and bushes withered in the sun in what at the time was the worst drought in living memory.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74475

YEMEN: Rebellion in north causing psychological problems, say aid workers

Aid workers in Yemen say they are working to assist residents in the northern province of Saada who have developed psychological problems in the aftermath of clashes between government forces and supporters of rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

The rebellion, which first began in 2004, flared up again early this year. Several civilians were killed and houses and farms destroyed in the most recent clashes, said aid workers. Thousands of Saada residents have been displaced.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74519

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Last updated:Sun Sep 30 09:38:46 2007