DUBAI, 9 July 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Kurdistan government appeals for medical supplies IRAQ: UNHCR calls for evacuation of seriously ill Palestinian children IRAQ: Baghdad suburb residents flee after US raids IRAQ: Health Ministry issues warning on waterborne diseases IRAQ: Sunni, Shia families swap homes in bid to remain safe IRAQ-JORDAN: Palestinian refugees from Iraq heading to Brazil IRAQ: Baghdad taxi drivers devise new survival tactics IRAQ: Imams issue fatwas banning fishing in the Tigris ISRAEL-SUDAN: Government to turn back refugees at border JORDAN: New clinic for Iraqis in Amman LEBANON: Deminers urge patience as Palestinians grow restless for return home OPT: Concern for Gaza patients who cannot go abroad for treatment SYRIA: Harvest hit by poor weather, inefficient farming practices YEMEN: Iraqi migrants, refugees await brighter future

IRAQ: Kurdistan government appeals for medical supplies

The semi-autonomous government of Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, has issued a global plea for medical supplies to ensure patients there receive required treatment. It blamed violence in other parts of Iraq for the dire shortage of supplies in the north.

"With the current situation in the south of Iraq, and particularly Baghdad, it is very hard for us to get the materials, equipment, and pharmaceuticals that we need," Dr Abdul-Rahman Osman Younis, the region's health minister, said in an appeal issued late June.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73018

IRAQ: UNHCR calls for evacuation of seriously ill Palestinian children

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has called for an immediate evacuation of at least a dozen seriously ill Palestinians, mostly children who are stuck in Baghdad and in a makeshift camp on the Iraq-Syria border. The agency said the children could die if they are not evacuated.

"We currently have 12 cases in urgent need of medical evacuation, the youngest just 15 months old. Without evacuation and life-saving medical help, they could die or suffer lifelong complications," UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond said on 29 June.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73026

IRAQ: Baghdad suburb residents flee after US raids

Some residents of the mainly Shia Baghdad suburb of Sadr City are fleeing their homes - apparently scared of reprisals by US troops searching the area for militants. The US raids, which started on 30 June, led to the deaths of 26 people and dozens were injured, according to government officials. Schools, government offices and many shops have been closed, and eye-witnesses said houses and shops had been damaged.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73049

IRAQ: Health Ministry issues warning on waterborne diseases

Iraqi Health Ministry officials warned on 3 July of a possible increase in waterborne diseases among children and the elderly during the summer's hottest month of July. Water and sewage networks have not been repaired and this could exacerbate the problem, which has been further highlighted by five cholera cases recently reported in southern Iraq, the officials said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73052

IRAQ: Sunni, Shia families swap homes in bid to remain safe

Six months ago Sunni militants forced the Shia family of Baqir Zaidan Najim out of their house in Baghdad's southern Sunni-dominated suburb of Dora.

Two months earlier, Shia militiamen had broken into the house of the Sunni family of Abdul-Khaliq Mohammed Khayon, and told them they had 24 hours to leave Baghdad's northern Shia district of Kadhimiyah or "face death".

Since then, the two families had been moving from place to place seeking shelter with relatives or friends until late last month when the heads of the two families shook hands on a deal to swap houses.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73073

IRAQ-JORDAN: Palestinian refugees from Iraq heading to Brazil

After spending over four years languishing in a refugee camp in the Jordanian desert, 100 Palestinian refugees from Iraq will finally be heading to their new home - Brazil. A statement by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said the group, which includes children and the elderly, will start moving from Rweished refugee camp, 60km from the Jordanian-Iraqi border, to Brazil by September.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73082

IRAQ: Baghdad taxi drivers devise new survival tactics

Before 2006, Noor Adel Abdullah, a 21-year-old student of English at Baghdad's College of Languages, used to take a 20-minute ride by bus to get to her college. Now, she needs at least an hour and three buses to reach the same destination. Noor finds it difficult to get a Sunni bus driver to drive her from her Sunni Amiriyah neighbourhood in western Baghdad to the Shia Bab al-Mudham area in the east, where the college is located.

"I have to change buses three times as most of the Sunni drivers can't get through Shia areas and vice-versa, as they fear sectarian violence," said Abdullah.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73084

IRAQ: Imams issue fatwas banning fishing in the Tigris

Fishing in the River Tigris is under threat after Imams [religious leaders], Shia as well as Sunni, issued fatwas [religious rulings] banning fishing in the river.

The fatwas were issued after government officials from the Ministry of the Environment said at end of May that the Tigris was contaminated and not fit either for drinking or personal use. As a result, hundreds of fishermen are desperate as fishing in the river is their only source of income.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73091

ISRAEL-SUDAN: Government to turn back refugees at border

A new decision by the Israeli government may place hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers from Africa at risk, legal experts and aid workers warned this week. According to the new plan, announced on 1 July, Israel will return to Egypt "infiltrators" crossing the countries' joint border.

A government communiqué said they would be "quickly" deported and indicated they would not be able to make an asylum claim in Israel. Accordingly, the Israeli security forces have been instructed to arrest and send back all those crossing the border, and to detain those who cannot be immediately returned.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73078

JORDAN: New clinic for Iraqis in Amman

The Jordan Red Crescent (JRC) has signed an agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to open a clinic for cash-strapped Iraqis in Amman, according to JRC officials. The clinic is currently being equipped and will be ready to receive its first patients in a few weeks. Treatment will be free of charge.

"This is a pilot project. We will see how it works and hopefully, if enough patients make use of our services, we will work on establishing new centres in other areas," said Mohammad Hadid, the JRC chairman, who is also chairman of the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73047

LEBANON: Deminers urge patience as Palestinians grow restless for return home

The demining agency tasked with neutralising unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the six-week conflict between militants and the Lebanese army in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp has said the removal of immediate UXO threats will take at least a month. This raises the spectre of further unrest among displaced refugees increasingly desperate to return home.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73067

OPT: Concern for Gaza patients who cannot go abroad for treatment

Many Palestinian patients in the Gaza Strip have been unable to access health care and advanced medical treatment since 9 June, when the Rafah crossing to Egypt was closed. The medical infrastructure in Gaza is not able to provide certain services to its residents, including many types of surgery, and the Palestinian ministry of health refers patients to hospitals in countries such as Egypt and Israel.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73031

SYRIA: Harvest hit by poor weather, inefficient farming practices

Drought and floods have hit Syria's farmers hard this year, leaving the harvest in disarray and threatening up to a fifth of annual production in an agriculture sector that accounts for a quarter of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to government figures.

The Ministry of Agriculture says agriculture was hit by drought during the winter, followed by recent flooding, leaving many crops un-harvestable this month.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73088

YEMEN: Iraqi migrants, refugees await brighter future

When Ahmed al-Rifaaiy first arrived in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, he hoped for a better life and future. Six years on, as one of a string of Iraqi barbers along Haddah Street, the city's bustling commercial centre, his dreams remain much the same.

"The Yemeni people are good people and have welcomed us to their country," the 30-year-old, who hopes one day to move to Europe, said, snipping away at a customer's hair - and shying away from any notion that he was a refugee.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73016

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