05 February 2004 11:39
Foreign charities should review aid for Chechnya, says Russian official
Moscow, 5 February: Foreign non-government organizations providing humanitarian aid to forced migrants in the North
Caucasus region should send it to Chechnya, but not to the neighbouring republics, Igor Yunash, first deputy head of the
Federal Migration Service of the Russian Interior Ministry, told journalists today.
Besides, he said, the very nature of humanitarian aid should be changed. "What humanitarian organizations are
doing today is already out of date. All the markets in the North Caucasus are full of humanitarian aid, which means
that, if people are selling humanitarian aid, they don't need it," Yunash said.
According to him, people going back to Chechnya, above all, need building materials to rebuild their houses.
"Humanitarian organizations have some experience in doing that and it should continue," Yunash said.
He said all these issues would be discussed at the meeting chaired by Russian minister Stanislav Ilyasov on 9
February.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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