01 June 2004 11:14
No deadlines can be set for Chechen refugees to leave Ingushetia - local leader
[Presenter] The Ingush leadership said today that there exist no deadlines by which Chechen refugee camps [in the
republic] are to be closed. It was earlier reported that the last remaining camp, Satsita, will be closed on 1 June.
Over the last two years the number of Chechen refugees in Ingushetia has dropped fivefold, from 200,000 to 40,000
people. Most of them are staying in rented houses, with only 2,000 people remaining in tent camps. Ingush President
Murat Zyazikov said that none of them will be forced to leave.
[Zyazikov, speaking at a news conference] This cannot be done. There can be no deadlines, no plans, no dates set to
coincide with specific events. Maybe somebody feels the need to report to somebody higher up that all problems have been
solved, that camps have been dismantled and to get thanks for it. However, one should get thanks not for this but for
solving those unfortunate people's problems by building [housing] for them.
[Presenter] Here is what a representative of the Memorial [human rights] organization, Aleksandr Cherkasov, has told
us about the refugee situation in Ingushetia.
[Cherkasov, over the phone from Ingushetia] One should think that Zyazikov meant that none of the refugees from the
camp will be forced to leave it. However, it seems that no-one is going to think about what awaits these people in the
future. Given the rate at which people have been taken to Chechnya in recent days and weeks, it is absolutely clear that
dozens of families, over 100 families will remain in Ingushetia after the camp is closed. However, water, gas and the
power supply there has been cut off and the state has no intention of looking after those people.
[Ren TV] |
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