President of Ingushetia visits Chechen refugees in Karabulak, gives them assurancesRuslan Isayev, North Caucasus - Nobody will be returned home to the Chechen republic by force, such was the message given by President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov last weekend, during his meeting with Chechen refugees living in the refugee camp ”Bart” close to the Ingush town of Karabulak.
The meeting was informal - there were no journalists present, even from the local TV, therefore the event remained unnoticed in Ingushetia.
The refugees who took part in the one-hour meeting said that all problems related to the preparation for the upcoming winter were solved during the meeting. Many of the refugees were concerned whether they would be allowed to stay another winter in Ingushetia as there were many reasons for doubts: starting from the termination of the delivery of humanitarian aid to open pressure exterted by local and Chechen law enforcement agencies. Now this is over, at least for 3,800 people who are currently living in the refugee camp in Karabulak.
According to the refugees from Karabulak, already on the second day after Zyazikov’s visit gas and electricity supply to the camp was increased; and a brand new gymnasium is being built now. Besides, President of Ingushetia during his conversation with the refugees expressed his confidence that in spring 2003 the situation in Chechnya will be substantially improved. Zyazikov, however, refused to elaborate on the matter.
Nevertheless, the refugee problem has other aspects. 3,800 refugees living on the outskirts of the small town of Karabulak will surely spend another winter in Ingushetia. This camp is one of the smallest in the republic. According to the latest data from the Ingush government, some 69,000 refugees are registered in Ingushetia. Out of them, 19,000 live in refugee camps. Thus the local authorities solved the problem of only 3,800 refugees. However, they cannot cope with the problems of the rest - or they simply pretend they do not exist.
The majority of Chechen refugees are concentrated in the refugee camps of the Sunzhenski district. Because these camps are located far from inhabited places, in the fields, their troubles stay out of the interest of local authorities. In fact, their situation is critical. For more than half of the year there was no humanitarian aid delivered, the supply of gas and electricity is irregular and their old tents need to be replaced. The refugees say that this creates a number of problems and there is nobody willing to take care of it.
In addition to this, the situation is worsened by the presence of Russian soldiers near the camps. According to the refugees, so far the soldiers have not touched them. But people have no doubt that "mopping-up operations" will take place in the camps. The refugees claim that the soldiers willingly start relations with curious boys and often give them trinitrotoluene cartridges, grenades and other ammunition. The refugees believe that the soldiers do this only to have the reason for persecution in the camps.
Several days ago, in the territory of the camp ”Satsita”, people discovered an explosive charge containing several kilogrammes of plastic explosive. Too scared to report the find to the police, the refugees drowned the explosive device in a toilet.
(J/T) |
