RUSSIA: OVER 100 CHECHEN REFUGEES LEAVE THEIR TENT-CITY CAMP IN INGUSHETIA TO RETURN HOME

Record ID: 275372

  • Title: RUSSIA: OVER 100 CHECHEN REFUGEES LEAVE THEIR TENT-CITY CAMP IN INGUSHETIA TO RETURN HOME
  • Date: 28th April 2001
  • Summary: KARABULAK, INGUSHETIA REPUBLIC, RUSSIA (APRIL 28, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV: REFUGEES GATHERING UP POSSESSIONS AND PLACING THEM ON TRUCK 0.09 2. SV: MAN TAKING DOWN TV ANTENNA ON TENT 0.13 3. SV: REFUGEES LOADING UP TRUCK 0.18 4. SV: CHILDREN 0.24 5. VARIOUS: REFUGEES REMOVING ITEMS FROM TENT HOMES (4 SHOTS) 0.59
  • Embargoed: 13th May 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KARABULAK, INGUSHETIA REPUBLIC, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA9G5AKFO88U5JMMHIEOPA1VG6J
  • Story Text: Over 200 Chechen refugees have returned home after
    living in tent cities in some cases for the last 18 months.


    Over 100 Chechen refugees left their tent-city camp in
    Karabulak, Ingushetia, on Saturday (April 28) to return home
    to Chechnya.

    The most recent returnees are some of the estimated 200,000
    Russians and Chechens who fled their homes since September
    1999, when Russia's army moved in force to quash a separatist
    uprising.

    The crackdown, criticised strongly by Western nations for
    using "disproportionate" force, left much of the southern
    Russian republic in disarray.

    "We want to go home, and we are going home," said one
    woman.

    They loaded up their possessions, many taking with them the
    canvas tents that have been their home for over a year, but
    they face an uncertain future.

    Russian security forces now have a tenuous hold on power
    through Kremlin-appointed Chechen leaders but partisan-style
    attacks are common.

    A suspected rebel bomb blast killed six policeman in
    Chechnya on April 25, denting official claims of a return to
    normality in the republic.

    The vast majority of refugees in the camp have elected to
    stay for the meantime.

    "I'm not going home, I don't feel that there is any
    guarantee of safety in Chechnya," said one woman.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register