More than half-million Syrian refugees in region: UN

GENEVA: The number of Syrian refugees registered in neighbouring countries and North Africa has passed half a million, the UN's refugee body said Tuesday, adding that many more have not come forward to seek help.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said it had either registered or was in the process of registering 509,550 Syrians in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and North Africa "And these numbers are currently climbing by more than 3,000 a day," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.
She described how close to 1,000 Syrian refugees had crossed into Jordan alone in the past two nights, arriving "with soaked clothing and mud-covered shoes due to heavy rainfall." More elderly and small children were also arriving in Jordan, including 22 newborn infants who entered the country on the night of December 9 alone. As of Monday, there were 154,387 Syrian refugees registered or in the process of being registered in Lebanon, 142,664 in Jordan, 136,319 in Turkey, 64,449 in Iraq and 11,740 in North Africa, according to the UNHCR.
"In addition to those already registered or awaiting registration, most of these neighbouring countries and North Africa also have large numbers of Syrians who have yet to come forward and seek help," Fleming said. Jordan, she pointed out, estimates there are some 100,000 Syrians in the country who are not registered, while Turkey says more than 70,000 Syrians are living outside its 14 camps. "The numbers of those struggling to live on the local economy and who eventually come forward to register are expected to increase as. . . resources are depleted and host communities and families can no longer support them," she said.
While all the registered Syrian refugees in Turkey were living in camps, Fleming pointed out that across the region around 60 percent of refugees were not in camps. Most of them were instead living in rental housing, with host families or in various types of collective centres, she said, pointing out that there were no camps in Lebanon and North Africa. Having the refugees so spread out was "a challenge," she said, stressing that in Lebanon for instance registered refugees were living in some 500 different municipalities.
Since the violence erupted in March 2011, more than 42,000 people have been killed in Syria, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

China sentences three hijackers to death

BEIJING: A court in China's restive Muslim-majority region of Xinjiang sentenced three men to death on Tuesday after they were found guilty of trying to hijack an aircraft and detonate explosives, state media said.
The men, along with a fourth who received a life prison term, were among a group of six that tried to seize the aircraft after it had taken off from Hotan in the northwestern region and were thwarted by passengers and crew, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing a court statement.
The other two gang members died in the struggle, which also resulted in injuries to 24 crew members and passengers, the statement said.
They were confronted after they tried to "detonate explosive devices", the statement from the Intermediate People's Court in Hotan Prefecture said, adding that "converted metal crutches and explosives" were used in the hijacking.
The men attempted to commandeer the Tianjin Airlines flight 1,400km away from its destination, the regional capital city of Urumqi.
They were influenced by religious extremists and "loudly shouted religious extremist cries" on board the aircraft, the Xinhua report said, citing court testimonies.
"They decided to blow up the aircraft and die along with all the other passengers," it added.
Ringleaders Musa Yvsup and Arxidikali Yimin, along with Eyumer Yimin, who played a major part in the attempted hijack, were sentenced to death.
Alem Musa received a life sentence as he played a minor role in the incident and showed "a good attitude" after being arrested, according to the statement.
"All the defendants confessed the above crimes at the court," the report added.
However, Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the exiled World Uyghur Congress, disputed the official version of events, claiming that a fight over seating broke out on board the aircraft between a group of Uighurs and Han Chinese, the country's majority ethnic group.
"The men who were sentenced were not allowed their own lawyers, only those that were given to them by the government," he said.
"The Xinjiang people believe this has been arranged for the Chinese authorities' political purposes. They could use this to step up suppression of the Uighur people. We believe the whole thing has no transparency."
Xinjiang is home to around nine million Uighurs, many of whom complain of religious and cultural repression by Chinese authorities -- a claim the government denies.
The vast resource-rich region, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been under heavy security since July 2009, when bloody ethnic riots in Urumqi killed 197 people and injured around 1,700.
Rights groups say the violence in the region stems from long-held grievances among Uighurs, who complain that an influx of Han is eroding their culture.
Beijing says it has provided much-needed development in the region, and blames much of the violence there on what it calls the three "evil forces" of religious extremism, separatism and terrorism.
The attempted hijack resulted in an 'economic loss' of 28.58 million yuan (4.58 million U.S. dollars), the court statement said.
Such incidents on Chinese planes are rare, although in October a man was arrested for allegedly making a hoax threat that forced a plane into an emergency landing, state media said.
The China Southern Airlines flight had originally taken off from Istanbul in Turkey and landed in Urumqi. It was en route for Beijing when the alert happened.
Last year a plane bound for Urumqi was forced into an emergency landing after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on board.
Police detained the 27-year-old woman passenger after she threatened to detonate explosives during the China United Airlines flight from Beijing to Urumqi.

Rupee down in the dumps against US dollar

KARACHI: The rupee Tuesday weakened to 97.15/97.25 against the dollar, compared to Monday's 96.91/96.95.
The local currency may fall further due to high dollar demand from importers, a dealer said.
Overnight rates in the money market remained flat at 9 percent. (Reuters)

IDPs should be allowed to vote in camps: PDMA

PESHAWAR: Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to allow IDPs to vote in camps. According to official sources, the PDMA has also requested that NADRA arrange mobile vans to issue ID cards to those individuals at camps who have reached the age of 18. Data provided by the PDMA states there are 17,082 displaced families at the Jalozai Camp in Nowshera and 68,113 outside. Meanwhile there are 2.000 displaced families at a camp in Hangu.

Trade can help alleviate poverty in South Asia: Qamar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Defence Syed Naveed Qamar Tuesday underlined that trade among the South Asian countries could help alleviate poverty in the region for which people-to-people contact was vital, Geo News reported.
"We need to look into deeper integration in the region whereby not just the merchandise but our people particularly youth and communities can interact with each," he said while speaking at a conference here at a local hotel.
The moot “Sustainable Development in South Asia: Shaping the Future” was organized by Sustainable Development Policy
Institution (SDPI).
“This is the way it used to be some three centuries back and it is time now that we should learn from our histories where mutual respect and honor allowed us to co-exist and prosper”, said the defence minister.
The minister said that today South Asia was the least connected
region in the world and it connectivity indicators were even poorer
than Sub-Saharan Africa.
"If we continue to be as distant as we are today, our children may never be able to interact, talk, meet and play with their children in the neighborhoods. Such a lost opportunity will be synonymous to a youth stolen in the name of history's baggage," he added.
He said Pakistan was undertaking a foreign policy in the new emerging realities in the best interest of the people of Pakistan and the development and prosperity in the region.
"We value our relationship with the powers in Asia. Pakistan has played an active role in SAARC for the formalization of the processes towards setting up food bank and supporting other regional arrangements including South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA)."
He also added that Pakistan’s terms with India were on the mend and improving fast.

Robbery gang busted in Karachi

KARACHI: A nine member robbery gang consisting of four women was busted in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of the city.
The women in the gang would seek employment in homes and would steal jewelry, mobile phones and other expensive items.
According to SSP Gulshan-e-Iqbal the group was involved in committing several robberies and three household employees have been identified. Two TT pistols, jewelry and other stolen items have been recovered from their possession.
Some of those arrested had admitted to their crime, while others have passed the blame. Police have registered a case against the gang under section 395.

Talks between OGRA, CNG association fail

ISLAMABAD: Talks between the CNG association and OGRA have failed as both sides failed to reach an agreement over pricing.
Representatives from the All Pakistan CNG Association, Petrol Pumps Owner Association and Petroleum Dealers Association met with officials from OGRA. During the meeting, the CNG association recommended that the CNG price should be audited and prices should be assessed in light of the Supreme Court’s directives.
Chairman of the CNG association supreme council, Ghayas Paracha told Geo News that he was also saddened by the long lines at stations.
The next round of talks are scheduled for December 13.