Disputes - international:
prolonged drought and cotton monoculture in Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan creates water-sharing difficulties for Amu Darya river
states; delimitation with Kazakhstan complete with demarcation
underway; border delimitation of 130 km of border with Kyrgyzstan is
hampered by serious disputes around enclaves and other areas
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 39,202 (Tajikistan) 5,238
(Afghanistan)
IDPs: 3,000 (forced population transfers by government from villages
near Tajikistan border) (2005)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Uzbekistan is a source and, to a lesser extent,
a transit country for women trafficked to Asia and the Middle East
for the purpose of sexual exploitation; women from other Central
Asian countries and China are trafficked through Uzbekistan; men are
trafficked for purposes of forced labor in the construction and
agricultural industries to Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and
Kyrgyzstan; men and women are also trafficked within the country
tier rating: Tier 3 - Uzbekistan is placed on Tier 3 because it
failed to fulfill commitments by the country to take additional
steps during 2005, including the adoption of comprehensive
anti-trafficking legislation, criminal code amendments to raise
trafficking penalties, support to the country's first trafficking
shelter, and approval of a national action plan
Illicit drugs:
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian and, to a
lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit cultivation
of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for domestic
consumption; poppy cultivation almost wiped out by government crop
eradication program; transit point for heroin precursor chemicals
bound for Afghanistan
This page was last updated on 19 December, 2006
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@Vanuatu
Introduction Vanuatu
Background:
Multiple waves of colonizers, each speaking a distinct language,
migrated to the New Hebrides in the millennia preceeding European
exploration in the 18th century. This settlement pattern accounts
for the complex linguistic diversity found on the archipelago to
this day. The British and French, who settled the New Hebrides in
the 19th century, agreed in 1906 to an Anglo-French Condominium,
which administered the islands until independence in 1980, when the
new name of Vanuatu was adopted.
Geography Vanuatu