Ingush Government Cuts Chechen Refugees' Relief AidRuslan Isayev, Prague Watchdog - For Chechen refugees in Ingushetia, the beginning of spring has been marked by rumours about cuts in relief aid provided by the federal center. Starting March 1 the Ingush power utilities started to disconnect electricity in the country's refugee camps, where some 150,000 refugees from Chechnya live.
The first refugee camp to have the electricity disconnected was refugee camp Iman, near the village of Aki-Jurt in the Malgobekski district, where around four thousand people temporarily stay. Besides, rations of bread and water have been suspended. There have been rumours that even the rations of gas should be cut down.
This radical decision was made in connection with the arrears of federal services to Ingush enterprises and organizations dealing with food supplies for refugees. The debt has reached 200 million rubles in the year 2001 and the federal center does not guarantee its payment.
On the other hand, the acting president of Ingushetia, Ahmed Malsagov, said the Ingush government is ready to provide the federal center with financial means for transporting the refugees to their home republic. „This problem though is very complex and at first normal living conditions must be guaranteed in Chechnya.“ The Chechen refugees themselves assume that these extreme measures have been established to force them to return to war-torn Chechnya.
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