DUBAI, 7 May 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS AFGHANISTAN: Some 1,600 displaced
after US air raids
AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Iran deports thousands of illegal Afghan workers
AFGHANISTAN: PRTs accused of spending unequal amounts on development
KAZAKHSTAN: Efforts under way to save Lake
Balkhash
NEPAL: NGOs concerned at lack of action to release child soldiers
NEPAL: Villagers suffering intimidation, extortion at hands of Maoists
NEPAL: Bhutanese refugee census nears completion NEPAL: Gov't, media ignoring plight of displaced women
UAE-PAKISTAN: Gov't steps up efforts to help former child jockeys
PAKISTAN: Report sheds new light on Afghan refugee community
PAKISTAN:
Conference on earthquake risk management concludes
PAKISTAN: Afghan refugees concerned over imminent closure of two camps in Balochistan
PAKISTAN: Toxins from tanneries endanger Kasur's
residents
SRI LANKA: International, local groups condemn violence against journalists
SRI LANKA: Tsunami survivors in north affected by intensified fighting
SRI LANKA: Boosting food and livestock
production in conflict-hit Jaffna
TAJIKISTAN: Poverty fuels child labour AFGHANISTAN: Some 1,600 displaced after US air raids Almost 1,600 families have been displaced and many others need urgent
humanitarian assistance two days after US war planes bombed several villages in the Shindand district of the western province of Herat, Afghan officials said. Reports of displacement follow claims
that up to 60 civilians may have died in the fighting. [This report is also available as a radio story in Dari and Pashto on IRIN's Afghanistan Radio Page.] http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71937 AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Iran deports thousands of illegal Afghan workers The Iranian government has recently stepped up efforts to expel Afghan labour
migrants and numerous other Afghans who reside in Iran without formal permits. According to the Afghan Foreign Ministry, about 30,000 Afghan refugees, including women and children, had been sent home
from Iran in the past week alone, Reuters reported. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71865 AFGHANISTAN: PRTs accused of spending unequal amounts on development For Afghanistan's only
female governor it is not poppy cultivation or insurgency that impedes development, but Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) with modest development budgets. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71949 KAZAKHSTAN: Efforts under way to save Lake Balkhash Efforts are under way to agree to an eco-based system which will promote sustainable
development at Kazakhstan's Lake Balkhash and prevent further environmental damage to waters and wetlands, say specialists. At the same time, environmentalists say there are indications that the lake
could shrink and become as environmentally-ravaged as the Aral Sea. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71924 NEPAL: NGOs concerned at lack of action to release child soldiers Local
child protection agencies in Nepal are concerned over the lack of action to trace and release child soldiers in the country, children's rights activists told IRIN on Monday. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71882 NEPAL: Villagers suffering intimidation, extortion at hands of Maoists Local people in Nepal's rural areas still continue to suffer from
intimidation and extortion at the hands of former Maoist rebels, villagers in the remote hill districts of northwest Nepal told IRIN on Thursday. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71939 NEPAL: Bhutanese refugee census nears completion A joint exercise by the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR) and the government of Nepal to register all Bhutanese refugees living in the country
is closer to completion, say officials. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71885 NEPAL: Gov't, media ignoring plight of displaced women The issue of female IDPs has barely caught the
attention of the government or the national media, said local aid workers who added that female IDPs are more vulnerable and suffer more than their male counterparts. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71904 UAE-PAKISTAN: Gov't steps up efforts to help former child jockeys The United Nations Children Agency (UNICEF) and the governments of the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mauritania, and Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding last week for a second and expanded phase of their programme to assist and compensate all
children formerly involved in camel racing in the UAE. [Watch IRIN video clip on the robots replacing child camel jockeys.] http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71860 PAKISTAN: Report
sheds new light on Afghan refugee community The vast majority of Afghan citizens (82 percent) registered in Pakistan say they had no intention of returning to their homeland in the near future,
according to the final report on the registration of more than two million Afghans living in the country. The report was launched on Thursday by the Pakistani government and the UN refugee agency
(UNHCR). http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71923 PAKISTAN: Conference on earthquake risk management concludes An international conference on earthquake risk management aimed at
sharing Pakistan's experiences on earthquake emergency response, early recovery, seismically resistant reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts concluded in Islamabad, on Monday. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71869 PAKISTAN: Afghan refugees concerned over imminent closure of two camps in Balochistan Afghan refugees living in two camps slated for closure
later this year in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province have expressed strong concern over their future plight, saying fear of violence was the main reason they did not want to return to their
homeland. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71959 PAKISTAN: Toxins from tanneries endanger Kasur's residents As a result of the tanning industry, about 9,000 cubic metres of
waste is being discharged on a daily basis in Kasur. Much of it enters existing waterways, such as the canals criss-crossing agricultural land in the Punjab province, say specialists. The rest forms
pools of stagnant water, from which an odour rises and hangs over the town. The tanneries also produce thousands of tons of solid waste each day as well as air emissions containing ammonia or hydrogen
sulphide. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71896 SRI LANKA: International, local groups condemn violence against journalists International and local media rights groups observing UN
World Press Freedom Day have condemned a spate of murders, abductions and intimidation of journalists in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's Free Media Movement (FMM), citing statistics for the past 12 months,
said that seven journalists had been killed, two were missing, three media personnel had been arrested while four had been attacked. At least three journalists had fled the country, while eight had
been threatened or harassed, the group said. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71926 SRI LANKA: Tsunami survivors in north affected by intensified fighting The resumption of the
conflict in the north and east has taken its toll on whatever recovery had taken place, especially in the Jaffna district," observes a report compiled by the government's leading tsunami recovery
outfit, Reconstruction and Development Agency (RADA), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula are continuing to struggle
to make a living. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71947 SRI LANKA: Boosting food and livestock production in conflict-hit Jaffna When heavy fighting between government forces and
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) erupted at several locations on the Jaffna peninsula in August 2006, it led to the closure of the A9 highway. The single road into the area, the A9, was an
economic and humanitarian lifeline for Jaffna's residents. Everything from food, basic commodities, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, even reconstruction materials, was soon in short supply. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71970 TAJIKISTAN: Poverty fuels child labour The United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF) estimates that there are 5,000 children working the streets
and markets of Tajik cities to help their families.
The results of a survey on child labour in Tajikistan funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and made available in January 2007
revealed that poverty is the main reason for them needing to work http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71890
