ASIA: IRIN-ASIA Weekly round-up 125 for 21-27 May 2007
28 May 2007 05:21:56 GMT Source: IRIN
DUBAI, 27 May 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: AFGHANISTAN: Higher pay rates for poppy
workers in volatile south
NEPAL: Impoverished urban squatters face high risk of poor health
NEPAL-BHUTAN: UNHCR in new move on Bhutanese refugees
NEPAL: Migration takes its toll on villages hit by
AIDS
PAKISTAN: Gov't calls for immediate return of aid workers to quake-hit Bagh
PAKISTAN: Renewed death threats haunt Christian community of 500 in northwest
PAKISTAN: 12.2 million children to be
immunised against polio
PAKISTAN: Aid agencies' dispute with Bagh local authorities rumbles on
SRI LANKA: Many schools in east reopen, though fear persists
SRI LANKA: UN agencies keep up pressure
on rebels over under-age recruitment
SRI LANKA: Creating an oasis for tsunami survivors
SRI LANKA: Thousands of displaced persons begin return to Batticaloa West
SRI LANKA: UN, NGOs call for
quicker access to resettlement communities
TAJIKISTAN: Lake Sarez disaster preparedness proceeding well AFGHANISTAN: Higher pay rates for poppy workers in volatile south Thousands of men come to
work in the southern Afghan province of Helmand and neighbouring areas where poppy is vastly cultivated driven by attractive pay. In 2006, over 2 million people worked at poppy fields throughout
Afghanistan, according to the UN. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72263 NEPAL: Impoverished urban squatters face high risk of poor health The growing population of the Nepali
capital, Kathmandu, has exacerbated the plight of the city's estimated 50,000 squatters who are among the poorest people in Nepal, according to a study by local non-governmental organisation (NGO)
Water Aid Nepal. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72319 NEPAL-BHUTAN: UNHCR in new move on Bhutanese refugees In a move to resolve the crisis faced by over 108,000 Bhutanese
refugees, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is all set to have direct talks with the Bhutanese government to discuss repatriating the refugees to their homes and exploring other possible
options. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72349 NEPAL: Migration takes its toll on villages hit by AIDS In the remote Accham district of Nepal, which for years has supplied cheap
migrant labour to India's bustling commercial city, Mumbai, villages are waking up to the impact of HIV. In the impoverished Ridikot village, nearly 800km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu,
eight-year old Rajan Biswakarma takes out the only photograph of his parents, who both died of AIDS-related illnesses last year. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72333 PAKISTAN: Gov't
calls for immediate return of aid workers to quake-hit Bagh The Pakistani government has called for the immediate return of all aid agencies to quake-affected Bagh district after a suspension of
activities in the region earlier this month. Located in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Bagh was devastated by the October 2005 earthquake that ripped through much of northern Pakistan, killing more
than 80,000 and rendering more than 3.5 million people homeless. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72264 PAKISTAN: Renewed death threats haunt Christian community of 500 in northwest Christians living in the town of Charsadda, in Pakistan's conservative North West Frontier Province (NWFP) along the border with Afghanistan, have renewed calls for greater security after a second
ultimatum for them to convert to Islam or be killed. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72283 PAKISTAN: 12.2 million children to be immunised against polio More than 12 million
children are to be immunised against polio this week in Pakistan as part of the country's overall efforts to eradicate the disease. A three-day immunisation campaign began on Tuesday. It is the second
this year in 38 high-risk districts throughout the country and involving almost 31,000 vaccinators working door-to-door. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72305 PAKISTAN: Aid agencies'
dispute with Bagh local authorities rumbles on The international aid community has resumed its operations in quake-affected Bagh district in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, but a dispute continues
between aid workers and the Bagh local authorities over restrictions on female employees. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72345 SRI LANKA: Many schools in east reopen, though fear
persists L. Arupragasam is a happy man. The head teacher has finally returned to his school which is located in Kalavanchchikudi division, Batticaloa district, eastern Sri Lanka. Last December,
Arupragasam, along with 230 of his students had to abandon the school so it could be used as a shelter for about 2,000 displaced people. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72269 SRI
LANKA: UN agencies keep up pressure on rebels over under-age recruitment Over the past year, UN agencies in Sri Lanka have tried to keep the national and international focus on one of the most
unfortunate aspects of Sri Lanka's long-running civil war - under-age recruitment of children as soldiers in the conflict. According to the United Nations Children's Agency (UNICEF), currently there
are 1,832 outstanding cases of under-age recruitment by non-state entities. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72309 SRI LANKA: Creating an oasis for tsunami survivors Trudging up a
steep slope laden with buckets of water was not what the residents of a new settlement for tsunami survivors in southern Sri Lanka expected to be doing when they moved in several months ago. For the
250 disaster-stricken families living on a bleak, windswept hillside in Seenimodera in the Hambantota District, daily treks to a borehole over a kilometre away took some of the gloss off moving into
their new homes. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72343 SRI LANKA: Thousands of displaced persons begin return to Batticaloa West Some 90,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in
Batticaloa District in eastern Sri Lanka are in the process of returning to their home villages in Batticaloa West. With their houses and crops looted, many now face tough food and livelihood
challenges, according to initial reports from humanitarian agencies. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72342 SRI LANKA: UN, NGOs call for quicker access to resettlement communities The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in Sri Lanka - a grouping of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) - has welcomed government efforts to resettle some 90,000 internally
displaced people (IDPs) in Batticaloa West, in the east of the country, and ensure such returns are "wholly voluntary and take place in safety and with dignity". http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72367 TAJIKISTAN: Lake Sarez disaster preparedness proceeding well Colonel Kadam Maskaev from the Tajik emergency agency has a unique job: He monitors
the world's highest natural dam at Lake Sare in eastern Tajikistan. The lake was created in 1911 when an enormous landslide caused by an earthquake in the Pamir Mountains blocked the Murgab River
in the area. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72328
