Former Sudanese President Jaafar Nimeiri, 69, gestures during an interview with Reuters in this May 4, 1999 file photograph. Nimeiri, who took power in a coup in 1969 and brought Islamic rule to Sudan, died on May 30, 2009, after a period of illness, government officials said. Picture taken May 4, 1999. PHOTO/ REUTERS 

Photo: Masoud Popalzai/IRIN

KABUL, – Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has warned that tensions may erupt between Hazara locals and Kuchi nomads in central parts of the country. Conflict over land and grazing has resulted in deadly fighting between the tribes over the past three years. Government officials have acknowledged their failure to settle the ongoing dispute.  IRIN’s Noorullah Stanikzai

Photo: Kamila Hyat/IRIN

Ahmed Gul, an Afghan refugee in Lahore, Pakistan, is worried about his future in his host country

LAHORE,  – Nazir Khan, a 40-year-old Afghan refugee, recently began working as a watchman at a private house in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. “I am lucky I found work; now I can support my family at least,” he told IRIN.

Khan, who has lived in Pakistan for 25 years, fled Buner district in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) when fighting broke out there between Taliban militants and Pakistan army forces in early May.

According to a situation report on 29 May by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), just over 2.5 million people have been displaced since 2 May.

There is uncertainty over how many Afghan refugees may be included among those.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of January 2007 Pakistan hosted about 1 million Afghan refugees in camps assisted by UNHCR. However, a 2005 Pakistan government census suggests a further 1.5 million Afghans were living outside camps.

Since 2005, the Pakistan government has stepped up pressure on these people to return to their country.

Nader Farhad, UNHCR spokesman in Kabul, said rates of return to Afghanistan had been slower this year than in previous years, with only 20,000 returning so far.

As fierce fighting broke out in areas of NWFP earlier in May, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, expressed deep concern over the well-being of some 20,000 registered Afghan refugees living in the conflict-affected districts of Buner, Lower Dir and Upper Dir.

“We have reports that many have fled together with the local population. Some have chosen to return to Afghanistan with UNHCR assistance and others have chosen to relocate to existing refugee sites in Pakistan,” Guterres said.

Farhad said that 114,000 Afghans had been living in conflict-affected areas of NWFP and had been forced to relocate to other parts of Pakistan or live with friends and relatives.

Afghan refugees harassed

According to watchman Khan, the Afghans he knows have shunned displacement camps and opted to move in with relatives, often in cities such as Peshawar or Lahore. “I had no idea what the situation would be like at camps. There are so many reports of harassment of Afghans that we were scared of any dealings with officials in case we faced persecution,” he said.

The arrest of Afghans in Pakistan, often after terrorist attacks, has been regularly reported in the local media and drawn calls from the Afghan government on Pakistan to avoid “mistreating” Afghan nationals.

For the Afghans forced to move from places they have called ‘home’ for decades, the new conflict is giving rise to growing anxiety over their future.

“I have lived in Buner since I was 20. I worked as a carpenter there,” said Khan. “I am now considering returning to Afghanistan, but people say the economic situation there is very bad. But then things are tough here too.”

Ahmed Gul, a cousin of Khan, moved in with relatives in Peshawar after leaving the Bajaur tribal area late last year following conflict there. “The future for Afghans is uncertain. Since 2005, when camps were closed in most parts of NWFP for security reasons, we have been treated like criminals. I just don’t know what to do or where to go. The fighting has made our lives very difficult.”

kh/at/ed source.www.irinnews.org

Photo: WHO

The theme of World No Tobacco Day 2009 is “Tobacco Health Warnings”, with an emphasis on picture warnings

DUBAI,  – Tobacco Health Warnings is the theme for this year’s World No Tobacco Day on 31 May. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urging governments to increase public awareness of the dangers of smoking by requiring that all tobacco packages include pictorial warnings to show the sickness and suffering caused by tobacco use.

“Health warnings on tobacco packages are a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives,” said WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Ala Alwan in a press release. “But they only work if they communicate the risk. Warnings that include images of the harm that tobacco causes are particularly effective at communicating risk and motivating behavioural changes, such as quitting or reducing tobacco consumption.”

In its report – entitled Showing the truth, saving lives: the case for pictorial health warnings – WHO said only 10 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where warnings with pictures are required on tobacco packaging. Studies carried out in Brazil, Canada, Singapore and Thailand revealed that having graphic images on cigarette packets of the consequences of smoking motivates more users to quit and reduces the appeal of taking up smoking for non-users.

Tobacco continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the world, killing more than 5 million people every year. “It is the only legal consumer product that kills when used exactly as intended by the manufacturer,” according to the WHO report.

Photo: WHO

WHO data on tobacco consumption prevalence by percentage and sex within the Eastern Mediterranean Region

According to WHO, current trends show that by the year 2020/2030, tobacco is likely to be the world’s leading cause of death and disability, killing more than 10 million people annually (70 percent of these deaths occurring in developing countries) and claiming more lives than HIV, tuberculosis, maternal mortality, motor vehicle accidents, suicide, and homicide combined.

Middle East statistics

The most recent WHO information for tobacco uses in the Middle East is from surveys conducted around 10 years ago in 19 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). They revealed that Yemeni men were the biggest smokers in the region, with 77 percent smoking, and Lebanese women topped the female category with 35 percent smoking.

Overall, the richer Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman) had the lowest prevalence of smokers, with Oman faring best, and the poorer Levant countries (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan) and Yemen had the highest. 

ed/at source.www.irinnews.org

Tobacco facts
	Tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced
	There are more than one billion smokers in the world, about one third of the global population aged 15 years and over
	Globally, use of tobacco products is increasing, although it is decreasing in high-income countries
	Almost half of the world’s children breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke
	The epidemic is shifting to the developing world
	More than 80% of the world’s smokers live in low- and middle-income countries
	Tobacco use kills 5.4 million people a year – an average of one person every six seconds – and accounts for one in 10 adult deaths worldwide
	Tobacco kills up to half of all users
	It is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of deaths in the world
	100 million deaths were caused by tobacco in the 20th century. If current trends continue, there will be up to one billion deaths in the 21st century
	Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than eight million a year by 2030, and 80% of those deaths will occur in the developing world
Source: WHO