Fwd: UNHCR Update
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Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 12:25:51 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Fwd: UNHCR Update
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Eldar Zeynalov <[email protected]>
Fwd: UNHCR Update
-----Original Message-----
From: Fabienne Philippe <[email protected]>
>From the UNHCR NGO Unit
For your information
NORTH CAUCASUS UPDATE UNHCR
8 March 2000
This document is intended for public information purposes only. It is
not an official UN document.
At a glance
- Exodus from southern Chechnya continues
- Returns to northern Chechnya stalled by reports of violence,
destruction
- UNHCR mulls more convoys for Grozny
- Conditions in Ingushetia camps still difficult
More people driven from their homes
Shelling and intense fighting in the mountainous south of Chechnya are
driving more people from their homes. Those freshly displaced into
Ingushetia heavily outnumber the ones going back to stay, with 200
people on average arriving daily in Ingushetia and only about 100
going back to Chechnya. The border between Chechnya and Ingushetia is
busy with two-way traffic as people shuttle between camps in
Ingushetia and their home villages in Chechnya.
Most wary of going back to Chechnya
Generally, a majority of the displaced into Ingushetia declare the
desire to go back. However, widespread destruction in Chechnya, as
well as reports of beatings, detention and rape are preventing a
larger return and also in some cases pushing out those who had already
gone back. One man who recently returned to Chechnya and fled again
alleged that he had to pay a bribe to be released from a military
prison camp, after four days of detention and daily beatings.
Testimonies of detention and violence against returnees cannot be
confirmed independently but they seem to form an alarming pattern.
Those travelling between Chechnya and Ingushetia also complain about
being harassed by numerous military and police checkpoints. UNHCR has
also heard complaints of violence against civilians by rebel forces.
On March 6, up to 60 people demonstrated at the main border crossing
point in Ingushetia, demanding an end to hostilities in Chechnya and a
deployment of international observers there.
More convoys for Grozny considered but security precarious
On February 29 the first UNHCR relief convoy arrived in Grozny, where
an estimated 21,000 civilians remain, primarily women and children.
The team of UNHCR local staff who accompanied the convoy reported
widespread devastation in Grozny, which has neither gas nor
electricity. The city's civilian population is confined to four city
districts. Needs are huge and supplies are scarce. UNHCR is looking
into the possibility of dispatching more aid to Chechnya amid huge
security concerns. Recent fresh clashes between Russian and rebel
forces, including in the area of Grozny where the first UNHCR convoy
went, have shown how volatile the security situation in the Chechen
capital is. There is also continued danger from mines and unexploded
ordnance.
Aid to Ingushetia flows but many concerns remain
UNHCR continues to send weekly convoys to Ingushetia's capital Nazran.
With most of those displaced from Chechnya wary of going back,
Ingushetia is still hosting up to 180,000 displaced from Chechnya.
Since the aid operation started last October, UNHCR has sent a total
of 44 aid convoys bringing more than 5,500 metric tons of food and
other relief supplies to the northern Caucasus, primarily to
Ingushetia but also to Dagestan, North Ossetia and
Karchayevo-Cherkessia. Despite a growing relief effort, sanitary
conditions in makeshift shelters and tented camps continue to be very
difficult, resulting in the spread of scabies and bed bugs in some
spontaneous settlements. The situation there is further exacerbated by
the lack of sufficient heat and interruptions in electricity supply.
In some places, the inhabitants allege that electricity has been cut
off by the authorities to pressure the displaced to go back to
Chechnya. The World Health Organization does not report any disease
outbreaks of epidemic proportions but there is continued worry about
the threat of a possible spread of tuberculosis which is endemic to
that area of the northern Caucasus.
UNHCR
Public Information Section
P.O. Box 2500
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: (41 22) 739 85 02
Fax: (41 22) 739 73 14
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www.unhcr.ch
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