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News Pakistan: ICRC deploys in Dir and Buner and assists thousands of displaced 2-7-2009 Operational update 24-6-2009 News release Section ICRC operations in Asia and the Pacific Activities throughout the world: a country-by-country round-up of the ICRC’s work in Asia and the Pacific. The ICRC maintains extensive operations in Asia and the Pacific allowing it to respond to the needs of people affected by armed conflict and violence. Its biggest operation in the region remains Afghanistan, where the conflict has intensified and spread over the last year.
©ICRC/Norman Ng/lk-e-00173
Sri Lanka. Kantale Camp for displaced persons, August 2006.
Despite security restraints, the ICRC continues to conduct major assistance operations in collaboration with the Afghan Red Crescent. In Pakistan, medical assistance is high on the agenda after violence in Waziristan resumed in the middle of 2007 and spilled over into other areas that had previously been calm. In Sri Lanka, as well as providing shelter and other essential aid to conflict-affected people, the ICRC continues to run a major water and sanitation programme for those displaced by fighting, returnees and residents. In many of the region's countries that the ICRC covers, delegates will continue to visit detainees and will seek to visit others not yet visited. In all contexts where IHL applies, the ICRC will keep on reminding the parties to hostilities of their obligation to protect those not or no longer taking part in the fighting. The country and region names used herein are intended to facilitate reference and have no political significance.  Key document2-7-2009 Philippines: ICRC will not rest until kidnapped staff member Eugenio Vagni is freedThe ICRC is renewing its appeal for the release of staff member Eugenio Vagni. The organization's head of operations for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific, Alain Aeschlimann, explains the efforts under way to resolve the crisis. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Philippines) Interview 29-5-2009 Sri Lanka: displaced people anxious for news from familiesDisplaced people in Sri Lanka not only need food, water and medical care. Thousands need to know whether relatives are alive and well. The ICRC is extending its work in IDP camps, but the needs are overwhelming, explains Jacques de Maio, ICRC head of operations for South Asia. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Sri Lanka) Interview Includes Photo 27-3-2009 Philippines: video statement by ICRC president calling for hostage releaseICRC president Jakob Kellenberger is asking for the safe, unconditional and immediate release of the three ICRC staff abducted 10 weeks ago in the southern Philippines. The appeal comes in response to threats made by the abductors that they will kill one of the ICRC employees on 30 March if their demand for a pull back of government troops goes unmet. (Info resources\Video) ICRC film Includes Video Annual ReportAnnual Report Includes PDF 27-5-2009 ICRC Annual Report 2008: Asia & the Pacific: Introduction(Info resources\Annual Report\2008) Annual Report Includes PDF Feature18-5-2009 Pakistan: Alina learns to walk againWar in north-west Pakistan is causing more and more casualties. On a recent filming trip to the region, the ICRC's Jan Powell met 10-year-old Alina, who was badly injured in a bomb explosion and is now being treated in the ICRC's field hospital in Peshawar. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Pakistan) Feature Includes Photo 29-4-2009 Sri Lanka: civilians caught up in battleRaging battle in north-eastern Sri Lanka continues to imperil the lives of thousands of civilians. In the following accounts, three people caught up in the conflict share with the ICRC’s Sarasi Wijeratne their harrowing experiences and hopes for a better tomorrow. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Sri Lanka) Feature Includes Photo 8-4-2009 Afghanistan: assistance to the war-wounded In 1979, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the ICRC started providing medical and surgical assistance in Pakistan to Afghans wounded in the fighting. Based in Kabul since 1987, the ICRC has consistently sought to provide neutral, independent support to health structures and staff across Afghanistan, and to care for conflict victims. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Afghanistan) Feature Includes Photo Interview11-6-2009 Philippines: twenty-one weeks in captivity for Eugenio Vagni ICRC staff member Eugenio Vagni was seized by armed gunmen on 15 January – a full five months on Monday 15 June – and is still being held captive on the island of Sulu. The ICRC's head of operations for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific, Alain Aeschlimann, comments on the current situation. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Philippines) Interview 22-5-2009 Sri Lanka: ICRC resumes assistance to displaced people in Vavuniya campOn 21 May, the Sri Lankan authorities restored the ICRC’s access to parts of Menik Farm. This is the largest camp for displaced persons in Sri Lanka, housing over 130,000 people. An update from Monica Zanarelli, the ICRC's deputy head of operations for South Asia. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Sri Lanka) Interview Includes Photo 15-5-2009 Pakistan: more war always means more victimsThe latest fighting in Pakistan's North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP) has caused civilian casualties and massive displacement. Hundreds of thousands have fled in recent days. Tens of thousands inside the conflict areas are in danger, not only from the fighting but also because they are virtually cut off from basic health care, food, water and sanitation. ICRC head of delegation Pascal Cuttat explains the organization's response to the crisis.
(The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Pakistan) Interview Includes Photo Official Statement1-6-2008 Intervening in humanitarian emergenciesAddress by Jakob Kellenberger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the 7th Shangri-La Dialogue, IISS* Asian Security summit, 1 June 2008, Singapore. (ICRC Activities\Humanitarian diplomacy\Other organizations) Official Statement Operational update10-6-2009 Afghanistan: ICRC activities in May 2009Afghanistan is one of the ICRC's biggest operations worldwide, with 96 delegates and around 1,255 national staff working at the delegation in Kabul, five sub-delegations and six offices around the country.
(The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Afghanistan) Operational update 9-6-2009 Sri Lanka: ICRC assists thousands of persons in government-run sites for the displacedThe ICRC has been bringing aid to thousands of civilians who fled the areas formerly held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and is visiting a growing number of persons held in relation to the conflict in government places of detention. The following is the latest report on ICRC activities between March and May 2009.
(The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Sri Lanka) Operational update Includes Photo 4-6-2009 Pakistan: ICRC returns to Swat and expands assistance in conflict-affected areasIn the past few days the ICRC has returned to Swat, where the security situation remains volatile. Damage to civilian infrastructure is considerable in and near the main city, Mingora, where local residents were cut off from basic services for weeks. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Pakistan) Operational update Includes Photo Photo Collection2-7-2009 Red Cross Red Crescent Movement rallies behind kidnapped Eugenio Vagni The ICRC's Eugenio Vagni has been held hostage on the Philippine island of Sulu for over five months. Between 23 and 28 June, hundreds of Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers gathering in Solferino in northern Italy to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Solferino, which led to the idea of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, showed their support for Eugenio – an Italian – and his family. On 1 July some 230 young Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers from around the world arrived in Geneva from Solferino. They gathered in the courtyard of the ICRC's Ecogia training centre to express their solidarity with Eugenio. (Info resources\Photos) Photo Collection Includes Photo 26-6-2009 Pakistan: civilians struggle as fighting continues around them Some 2.5 million people have fled the fighting in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan since early May. They are staying with host families or in camps outside areas directly affected by the fighting, often with extremely limited access to clean water, electricity, medical care and communications. (Info resources\Photos\Asia and the Pacific) Photo Collection Includes Photo 30-3-2009 Pakistan: caring for people wounded by fighting along the Afghan border Fighting along the northern stretch of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border has intensified over the past eight months. Tens of thousands of civilians have been forced to leave the conflict zones to seek refuge in safer places, and the number of people wounded by the fighting has increased. The ICRC has stepped up its surgical and physical rehabilitation activities, particularly in Peshawar, North West Frontier Province. (Info resources\Photos\Asia and the Pacific) Photo Collection Includes Photo 11-11-2008 Afghanistan: seeing families through the harsh winter The worst drought in a decade, soaring food prices and relentless insecurity could force thousands of Afghans from their homes this winter in search of food and work. The ICRC and Afghan Red Crescent Society are working hard to meet the needs of 280,000 people in the northern and north-western provinces. (Info resources\Photos\Asia and the Pacific) Photo Collection Includes Photo 2-10-2008 Philippines: helping people cope with displacement and torrential rain On 10 August 2008, the Philippine armed forces and fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front resumed hostilities on the island of Mindanao. The ICRC immediately launched an emergency operation to help those forced to leave their homes by the fighting. So far, over 120,000 have received food, water and basic household items. (Info resources\Photos\Asia and the Pacific) Photo Collection Includes Photo 21-8-2008 Missing persons in Nepal: the right to know In 2001 following the breakdown in the truce between the government and the Maoists, 20 young men left home in Jogimara, Dhading District to work on an airport runway being built 800 km away in western Nepal. Seventeen of them never returned. (Info resources\Photos\Asia and the Pacific) Photo Collection Includes Photo 6-6-2008 The many faces of Sri Lanka's long armed conflict In Sri Lanka, 25 years of armed conflict between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have had serious humanitarian consequences for civilians throughout the country. Over the years many people have fled their homes, particularly in the conflict-affected areas in the north and east of the country, and families have become separated. The ICRC has been working in Sri Lanka for almost two decades, aiming to improve the situation of affected populations on both sides of the armed conflict - including the internally displaced, the wounded and the sick, separated families and detainees. (Info resources\Photos\Asia and the Pacific) Photo Collection Includes Photo Press article30-3-2009 Afghanistan: 30 years of sufferingDirector of Operations Pierre Krähenbühl voices the ICRC's concern about how the Afghan conflict is hitting civilians increasingly hard. Unless the warring parties do more to meet their obligations under international humanitarian law, civilians will continue to bear the brunt of the violence. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Afghanistan) Press article Includes Photo Press briefing22-4-2009 Philippines: Andreas appeals for Eugenio's releaseICRC employee Andreas Notter has spoken of his relief at being free after 93 days in captivity in the Philippines. He has also appealed for his abductors to release their last remaining ICRC hostage, Eugenio Vagni. The three ICRC employees were kidnapped on 15 January after a routine visit to Jolo Provincial jail. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Philippines) Press briefing Includes Photo 21-4-2009 Sri Lanka: situation of civilians nothing short of catastrophicAt a press conference in Geneva on 21 April, the ICRC's director of operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, described the situation in the north-east of Sri Lanka as "dramatic". He explicitly warned that government forces and fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must take immediate action to prevent further mass casualties among civilians. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific\Sri Lanka) Press briefing Includes Photo 1-4-2009 Afghanistan/Pakistan: put the humanitarian factor on the agendaJust before the conference on Afghanistan and Pakistan in The Hague, ICRC head of operations for South Asia Jacques de Maio called for humanitarian considerations to be high on the agenda. (The ICRC worldwide\Asia and the Pacific) Press briefing Includes Photo Video Collection18-5-2009 Pakistan: Alina's Story Ten-year-old Alina lives in Khyber Agency in north-west Pakistan. At the ICRC'S field hospital in Peshawar she remembers the day when she was going out to play and a sudden massive explosion knocked her unconscious. The bomb killed her friend outright and left Alina badly wounded – both casualties of the fighting in the region which is taking a heavy toll on civilians. (Info resources\Video) Video Collection Includes Video 10-12-2008 Pakistan: help for Quetta earthquake victims In October 2008, an earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hit Baluchistan province in south-west Pakistan. In the district of Ziarat, near Quetta, villagers try to save what's left from their wrecked homes. ICRC and Pakistan Red Crescent Society’s volunteers provide tents for the homeless. Some of the injured recall the night the earthquake struck. 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