Anti-polio drive moves to tribal agencies

PAKISTAN: Women-led households hit by war, floods in Swat

PESHAWAR, 26 March 2012 (IRIN) - Nissa Bibi, 40, carries a mobile phone on an orange ribbon round her neck in the hope that her sister - Shahina Bibi who recently returned to their home village in the Kabal area of Swat valley in northern Pakistan - will call. full report

PAKISTAN: Plea for help as landslides kill nine

PESHAWAR, 22 March 2012 (IRIN) - Heavy rain has triggered landslides in the autonomous territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and the Chitral District of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa Province (KP) in northern Pakistan killing at least nine people, and affected villagers are calling for more assistance. full report

PAKISTAN: Sharp rise in human trafficking in Sindh Province

KARACHI, 21 March 2012 (IRIN) - Pakistan’s Sindh Province has recorded a sharp increase in reported cases of human trafficking since the beginning of the year, and the trend could continue unless the authorities take action to contain it, say activists. full report

PAKISTAN: No road home for Sindh flood victims

KARACHI, 12 March 2012 (IRIN) - Ever since floods swept away dozens of homes and damaged many others in their village in the Sanghar District of Pakistan’s Sindh Province six months ago, Dinu Muhammad and his extended family of 10 have slept on thin pieces of cotton cloth spread out on a mud floor. full report

PAKISTAN: Abducted and forced into a Muslim marriage

KARACHI, 27 February 2012 (IRIN) - Sixteen-year-old Ameena Ahmed*, now living in the town of Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, does not always respond when her mother-in-law calls out to her. full report

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: More Afghans crossing into Pakistan?

QUETTA, 27 February 2012 (IRIN) - In a tiny flat they have rented in Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan, Zarnab Bibi and her husband Aziz Khan* wait patiently for the phone to ring. full report

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Timeline of Afghan displacements into Pakistan

PESHAWAR, 27 February 2012 (IRIN) - A new push to find durable solutions for Afghan refugees faces many challenges, including the continued flow of Afghans into Pakistan and questions around Pakistan’s willingness to continue hosting them. As the government of Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) look for endorsement of an ambitious new strategy, they are wrestling with decades of displacement in what has become the world’s most protracted refugee crisis. Here is a timeline: full report

PAKISTAN: Tolerance wanes as perceptions of Afghan refugees change

PESHAWAR, 27 February 2012 (IRIN) - Counting out a wad of crumpled notes, 50-year-old Muhammad Zahoor, owner of a small iron-welding business in Peshawar, capital of the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province (KP), is full of complaints. full report

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: From pillar to post - the plight of Afghans abroad

KABUL, 27 February 2012 (IRIN) - The government of Afghanistan and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are seeking endorsement of a new strategy which aims to provide sustainable solutions to the largest and most protracted refugee crisis in the world. full report