14:57, 24 January 2004

Refugees protest against camp closure

On January 22, about two hundred refugees from the Satsita tent camp, which is near the village of Sleptsovskaya, rallied in protest against the closure of refugee camps in Ingushetia scheduled for March 1. They held banners saying "Welcome to the Warsaw Ghetto" and "Stop Arbitrary Rule."

The main reason for their unwillingness to return to Chechnya is still lack of security guarantees. "If Kadyrov says he cannot provide security guarantees for us or for himself in the republic, we'd like to invite him here. We are able to guarantee him safety," said one of the protesters.

Members of Chechen human rights organizations, who also took part in the protest, spoke up in support of the refugees. The chairman of the Chechen National Salvation Committee, Ruslan Badalov, said to them, "No one has the right to evict you on March 1 or any other time ? either under Russian or international law."

Editors note: See also the articles "Chechen State Council intends to decide issue of tent camps in Ingushetia before March 1", "Authorities will not speed up resettlement from tent camps".

Source: Prague Watchdog