Chechen State Council intends to decide issue of tent camps in Ingushetia before March 1

The Chechen State Council intends to find out what and who is slowing down the process of return of forced migrants to their homes in Chechnya from three refugee camps in the Republic of Ingushetia.

Chechen State Council head Husein Isayev announced this intention at a specially convened conference of heads of the district and city administrations, representatives of the interested ministries and government committees. "We have done much to bring the forced migrants back to their homes, but the analysis of the information about this issue produces an impression that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing," Isayev said.

Thus, according to some sources, 29,500 migrants have returned from Ingushetia, while other sources insist that slightly more than 16,000 people have reentered Chechnya. "It is our duty to find those who are to blame for the slowing down of this important process and to punish them," the State Council head stressed.

According to him, it is possible to bring 4,600 people residing in Ingushetia's three tent camps back to Chechnya by March 1. At present, up to 2,000 migrants are willing and ready to leave the tent camps, but they cannot do so because "there is nowhere for them to move as all the 28 temporary accommodation centers existing in Chechnya are filled to capacity."