DUBAI, 20 May 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: UN, Afghan gov't call for humane deportations from Iran AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Zahraa, "I was told to leave my home for good within one hour" AFGHANISTAN: Floods kill dozens, destroy hundreds of homes in northeast NEPAL: No let-up for the rural poor NEPAL: Grassroots efforts help reduce child deaths PAKISTAN: Karachi violence stokes renewed ethnic tension PAKISTAN: HIV/AIDS will not go away if you ignore it PAKISTAN: UNHCR appeals for calm after refugee camp violence SRI LANKA: WFP official calls for improved humanitarian access SRI LANKA: Complex food distribution operation for displaced people in Batticaloa TAJIKISTAN: Abduholik Kamolov, "Instead of going to school I work as a shoe polisher to help my Mum" TAJIKISTAN: Efforts under way to control new locust invasion

AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: UN, Afghan gov't call for humane deportations from Iran

United Nations (UN) and the government of Afghanistan have called on Tehran to ensure that the thousands of Afghans who live and work illegally in Iran are deported in an orderly and humane manner. Since 21 April about 85,000 Afghans have been deported to Afghanistan, Iran's deputy interior minister, Mohammad-Baqer Zolqadr, told the Iranian IRNA news agency on Saturday.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72127

AFGHANISTAN-IRAN: Zahraa, "I was told to leave my home for good within one hour"

Forty-eight-year-old Zahraa lived in the eastern Iranian city of Zabul for more than 12 years with her husband and two sons. On 8 May she was deported to Afghanistan for illegally staying in the country. She gave IRIN an account of what she said was her forced journey to Afghanistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72149

AFGHANISTAN: Floods kill dozens, destroy hundreds of homes in northeast

Flash floods and heavy rainfall have killed more than 24 people and damaged over 530 houses in several districts of the northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan, the country's Interior Ministry reported on Wednesday. Flooding also inflicted serious agricultural damage and killed dozens of farm animals in the isolated and impoverished province.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72173

NEPAL: No let-up for the rural poor

Nepal's poverty is marked by unequal distribution of land, huge gaps between urban rich and rural poor, poor education, weak health systems, poor infrastructure, high levels of unemployment, and severe malnutrition in many parts of the country, specialists say. According to the government's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nepal is one of the least developed countries with a per capita GDP of $311.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72152

NEPAL: Grassroots efforts help reduce child deaths

Pneumonia, diarrhoea, under-nutrition, measles and acute respiratory infections kill tens of thousands of children every year in Nepal. However, community-based efforts involving local health care volunteers are significantly reducing child mortality rates, say public health experts. A recent report published by Save the Children (US) said that innovative community-based approaches to health care in Nepal are giving health workers the knowledge and tools they need to take action.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72256

PAKISTAN: Karachi violence stokes renewed ethnic tension

The Brussels-based NGO International Crisis Group (ICG) on Monday warned of further ethnic tension in Pakistan following a wave of political violence over the weekend in the southern city of Karachi. Its comments follow the worst political fighting in Pakistan in two decades, when more than 40 people were killed and scores more injured over two days.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72145

PAKISTAN: HIV/AIDS will not go away if you ignore it

Pakistan's HIV prevalence rate stands at 0.1 percent but the situation is changing rapidly, with new data revealing that an epidemic is concentrated in two risk groups: injecting drug users (IDUs), and men who have sex with men (MSM). However, misconceptions about HIV, coupled with the taboo nature of the groups most at risk, has meant that most cases go unreported.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72164

PAKISTAN: UNHCR appeals for calm after refugee camp violence

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has appealed for calm after an outbreak of violence at an Afghan refugee camp earmarked for closure in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. At least three Afghan refugees were killed and 10 others injured on 16 May during clashes between the Pakistani authorities and residents of the Jungle Pir Alizai refugee camp, 62km west of the provincial capital, Quetta.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72209

SRI LANKA: WFP official calls for improved humanitarian access

A senior World Food Programme official has called for additional resources, improved humanitarian access and greater security for aid workers who are helping 400,000 people displaced in Sri Lanka. Banbury, WFP's Asia regional director, is concluding a four-day mission to Sri Lanka, during which he met government ministers and donors and visited internally displaced people's (IDP) camps in Batticaloa district.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72239

SRI LANKA: Complex food distribution operation for displaced people in Batticaloa

Distributing food rations to over 100,000 people displaced by conflict in eastern Sri Lanka is a logistical challenge. The World Food Programme in early May was providing food rations to some 100,000 of the nearly 140,000 internally displaced people living in welfare camps and other sites in Sri Lanka's eastern Batticaloa district. The IDPs have come in waves over the last year, filling some 90 welfare sites and settling in with relatives and host families.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72248

TAJIKISTAN: Abduholik Kamolov, "Instead of going to school I work as a shoe polisher to help my Mum"

Every morning 11-year-old Abduholik Kamolov buys his supply of shoe polish. Originally from Vahdat district, 27km southeast of Dushanbe, he travels to the capital city with his mother, who carries milk and eggs for sale. With the little money he earns from shoe cleaning, he contributes to his family income.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72128

TAJIKISTAN: Efforts under way to control new locust invasion

Locust invasions in Tajikistan in the past few weeks have destroyed crops and cotton plantations over an area of almost 45,000 hectares. According to the Tajik Agriculture Ministry, the southern Khatlon Oblast is the most affected area. Here 23,350 hectares have been invaded by locusts. A little over half of the affected area was being treated.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72171

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