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Chechens
in a refugee camp in Ingushetia
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WASHINGTON,
November 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Russia has given
assurances that Chechen refugees will not be forced into returning to
their homeland after announcing plans to close at least one refugee
camp.
The
U.S. State Department said it received a positive response to its
concerns about Moscow's intention to shut down one of the camps in
Ingushetia, Aki Yurt, where about 1,500 Chechen refugees currently
live, reported the BBC News Online Saturday, November 30.
The
State Department said U.S. diplomats had raised concerns with Russian
counterparts about the fate of the people in the Aki Yurt camp which
Moscow plans to close down on Sunday, December 1.
"In
response, the Russian government assured us on Wednesday that
internally displaced Chechens would be offered purely voluntary
choices," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Lynn Cassel, a
department spokeswoman, as saying.
"We
believe that any returns of Chechens from that region where they have
sought safe haven must be voluntary and without pressure or
coercion," she said, outlining the U.S. concerns.
"Their
concerns about the lack of safety of Chechen remain a major obstacle
to voluntary return," she said.
However,
according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), Chechen refugees are under pressure to leave their camps in
Ingushetia.
"I
can't say that people are physically forced out of the camp, but there
is an ongoing psychological pressure on the people," said Joseph
Gyorke, UNHCR's regional representative in Russia.
"We
are receiving reports from the field, from our monitors, that during
the last days the representatives of the Chechen administration, even
the mullahs [are going] around in the camps and convincing the people
to go home."
The
UNHCR said refugees should be fully informed of the conditions of life
in Chechnya before making any voluntary decision.
On
Friday, November 28, UNHCR expressed concern about the plans to close
Aki Yurt, urging that the move be postponed until decent living
quarters for those housed there can be found.
Ingush
officials have been hampering the efforts of the camp's 1,500
residents to prepare for the region's harsh winter.
"The
local administration has recently begun blocking the replacement of
tents, forcing displaced persons to leave" for Chechnya, Gyorke
was quoted as saying.
Russian
authorities have repeatedly said they want Aki Yurt and other camps in
Ingushetia closed to impress on the world that the situation in
Chechnya is under control.
Some
27,000 of the refugees are believed to be in camps, while the others
are living in rented rooms in private homes or disused factories.
The
refugees say they are at risk attack by Russian troops or getting
caught in fighting if they return home.
On
Wednesday, November 26, the United Nations expressed alarm at Russia's
plan to close the Aki Yurt camp, and urged the country's officials not
to force the return of the 110,000 people estimated to have fled to
Ingushetia since the beginning of the Russian military operation in
Chechnya three years ago.
Many
of the refugees are likely to stay in Ingushetia even if the camps are
closed but Russian officials who have not taken any measures to
accommodate them, Gyorke said on Moscow Echo radio.
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