The Centre - located in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan - is being set up by the UN's Department of Political Affairs (DPA) as it builds on its earlier assistance to the region, including the work since 2002 of the UN Forum for Conflict Prevention in Central Asia.

Highlights of the High Commissioner for Refugee's five-day visit ending Thursday included the opening of a reception centre for asylum seekers in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, and the signing in Astana of a country cooperation agreement with Kazakhstan.

Starting his visit in Bishkek, Guterres

High Commissioner António Guterres is traveling to Central Asia this weekend on a five-day visit, his first to the region as UNHCR chief.

From November 11-13, Mr. Guterres will be in the Kyrgyz Republic to open the first refugee reception centre in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan hosts several hundred refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The

1. A significant increase in the numbers of persons of concern to UNHCR brought new challenges in 2006. While there was a 14 per cent increase in refugee numbers from the previous year, the Office's involvement, together with other humanitarian partners, in protecting and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) under the inter-agency cluster approach, resulted in a doubling of IDP figures. Thanks to better data capturing, many more stateless people have been identified, also swelling numbers.

2. Despite a plethora of complex challenges,

With presidential elections looming on the horizon (see earlier FAST Updates), campaigning should have been high on the political agenda during this reporting period. There was, however, almost no mention of any forthcoming election. The only official statement was made by Uzbekistan's Commercial Attaché to Turkey in an interview on Turkish television on 30 August, where he stated that the presidential elections in December will mark further progress in the process of democratization. By law, the presidential election has to be officially announced by parliament

"Uzbekistan: Stagnation and Uncertainty," the latest International Crisis Group briefing, warns that two years after the Andijon massacre, the country remains a serious risk to itself and the region. The 69-year-old Karimov's term ended formally in January but he shows no sign of stepping down. There is no clear successor or succession process, so an eventual power struggle could well be violent. The human

The second anniversary of the Andijon tragedy on 13 May 2005 was one of the main issues during this reporting period. The European Union accepts that there was an armed insurgency but considers the Uzbek government's response inappropriate. What is still in doubt is the exact number of victims and the manner in which they were killed. On 14 May, the EU reviewed the sanctions it had imposed on Uzbekistan in the aftermath of the Andijon tragedy. It decided not to lift the arms embargo and to suspend the visa ban for four of the twelve officials on

The General Affairs and External Relations Council held on 14 and 15 May was an occasion not only for EU foreign ministers to come together but also for the EU's defence and development ministers to hold talks in parallel.

The highlight of the meeting was the first joint session of EU foreign ministers and their Arab League colleagues to discuss the Middle East peace process.

EU-Russia Summit