Pakistan

Islamabad, October 16, 2018 - Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has reaffirmed his firm government commitment for polio free Peshawar and assured to provide all available resources to achieve this end. The team for the prevention of polio would be given proper security and it we all will work as a team towards this end, he assured.

The overall levels of political violence remained relatively static in the South and Southeast Asian regions over the last few weeks, whereas the number of reported fatalities increased significantly last week. The overall levels of demonstrations decreased across the region, especially in Pakistan and India.

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 88,736 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2018 through 14 October, with 40,598 to Spain, the leading destination this year. In fact, since late September’s arrivals were reported, Spain in 2018 has now received via the Mediterranean more irregular migrants than it did throughout all the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 combined. Spain’s numbers for the year are slightly higher than the figure printed (see chart below) and reflect arrivals only through last Wednesday.

By Sajida Mansoor

Islamabad, October 15, 2018 - More than 31 million Pakistani children are to be vaccinated against measles in late October in a countrywide immunization campaign that pulls together national funding and the polio programme’s greatest asset: its human resources.

This case report explores the challenges faced by Afghan refugees who had been living in Pakistan and returned to Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It explores the returnees’ experience of reintegration back into their home country and focuses on their access to land, as land ownership is the main pillar of the Afghan government’s official reintegration strategy. Further, it is nearly impossible to have status at the neighborhood level, to find work, or to become socially respected without owning land.

Key issues in the past week:

• The number of people displaced by conflict this year has surpassed a quarter of a million.

• More than 263,330 people are currently displaced due to the drought across four provinces.

• According to the latest IPC report, the number of people in emergency phase of food insecurity has almost doubled to 3.3 million in the past year.

11,200 New IDPs reported in the past week

524,800 Total verified IDPs in 2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

"Access to education is a fundamental human right. It is essential to the acquisition of knowledge and to the full development of the human personality, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states. More than that, education makes us more resilient and independent individuals."
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

• The number of new refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Serbia on 14 October was 3,825, compared to 3,905 counted two weeks ago. Of those, 3,338 (i.e. 87%) were accommodated in 15 governmental Reception/Transit (RTC) or Asylum Centres. Also, close to 500 mainly male refugees/migrants were observed outside the centres: 200 in Belgrade City, another 200 camping close to borders with Croatia or Hungary and up to 80 in Loznica, close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Total arrivals (1 Jan - 14 Oct 2018): 21,563
Total arrivals (1 Jan - 14 Oct 2017): 109,481
Total arrivals 1 Oct - 14 Oct 2018 615
Total arrivals 1 Oct - 14 Oct 2017 4,063
Average daily arrivals in October 2018 so far: 44
Average daily arrivals in September 2018: 32

ISLAMABAD, 15 October 2018: In line with our global education policy which encourages the adoption of the host country’s education curriculum, the UN refugee agency has decided to use the Pakistani curriculum in refugee village schools.

The decision has been taken due to the protracted nature of the Afghan refugee situation, where the use of the host country’s curriculum constitutes both the most sustainable and the most cost-effective option.

F.P. Report

THARPARKAR: As many as two more infants succumbed to malnutrition in the past 24 hours in Tharparkar area of Sindh province.

Sindh Health Department told private news channel that the deaths took place at Civil Hospital, Mithhi with the children being aged five and eight-days old.

The recent death of two children has taken the death toll in Tharparker to 17 for this month and 493 for the year.

During last week (07 – 13 October 2018), 397 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan (302 from Pakistan, 90 from Iran and 5 from other countries)

14,122 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan in 2018, out of which 12,373 from Pakistan, 1,620 from Iran and 129 from other countries (as of 13 October 2018)

This is 74% less compared to the same period in 2017, when 53,619 Afghan refugees returned to Afghanistan

13,274 AFGHAN REFUGEES RETURNED SINCE JANUARY 2018

In September 2018, UNHCR facilitated the return to Afghanistan of a total of 1,675 Afghan refugees, including 1,434 from Pakistan and 241 from Iran. This figure is 22% higher than 1,374 refugees who returned in August.

So far, the return figure from Pakistan is substantially (77%) low compared to the 50,641 refugees who returned during the same period in 2017. There are no major changes in the return trends from Iran and other countries.

This weekly situation report covers the reporting period between 30 September and 6 October 2018. 370 undocumented Afghan individuals returned to Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing whilst 323 individuals used the Chaman/Spin Boldak border crossing, bringing the total number of returns in the reporting period to 693 (161 families). There is an approximate 13% increase in the total number of returns compared to the previous week.

KEY INDICATORS

2,505 Registered intentions to seek asylum in Serbia

28% of registered refugees and migrants were minors

102 Applications for asylum

2 Persons granted refugee status

5 Persons granted subsidiary protection

Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 88,049 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2018 through 10 October, with 40,598 to Spain, the leading destination this year. The region’s total arrivals through the recent weekend compare with 142,301 arrivals across the region through the same period last year, and 318,791 at this point in 2016.

Spain, with 46 per cent of all arrivals through the current year, continues to receive seaborne migrants in October at a volume approaching three times that of Greece and about eight times that of Italy.

More than 32 million children will be immunised against measles, an exceptionally contagious and deadly virus, in two weeks.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - October 15, 2018: Today the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) joined the Government of Pakistan in kick-starting a nationwide measles campaign to vaccinate more than 32 million children – one-sixth of the population.

Fearing shortages, Pakistan's second-largest city turns to water rationing - and raises prices

By Waqar Mustafa

LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Five mornings a week, Saima Azeem helps her children wash and prepare for school. But this week has been different: She has had to use her few bottles of drinking water to get them ready.

"It's been a difficult morning. I'll have to schedule my chores according to the new water supply timing," the mother of four told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

• Papua New Guinea’s National Department of Health, WHO, UNICEF and partners issue a ‘100 Days Report’: featuring the highlights of response operations so far, the report is dedicated to the thousands of front-line polio workers who brave difficult conditions and work long hours to protect children in Papua New Guinea from polio.