Only 3 families left Bart camp of Chechen refugees in Ingushetia last week

Only 3 families left the tent camp of Chechen refugees "Bart" (Karabulak, Ingushetia) last week. Two of them moved to the private sector of Grozny, the third one did to a hostel in Karabulak.

The Bart tent camp, one of the largest temporary accommodation centers for Chechen refuges in Ingushetia, has considerably thinned out for the last year. However the process of the refugees' home-coming to Chechnya, which started last spring so actively, has almost come to naught after New Year. As of 1 February 2004, only 85 tents are left in the camp, with 700 people (191 families) living in them, camp warden Zyalmakh Bokov said to the Regnum correspondent. Most of the people who still stay in the camp are not going to come back to Chechnya from security considerations, according to their words.

Representatives of different missions have visited the camp for the last week. UN Under-Secretary-General Jan Egeland visited refugees from Chechnya and North Osetia on January 27. Chairwoman of the Russian President's Commission on Human Rights Ella Pamfilova visited the Bart camp on January 29. But, according to Lema Makhmadjiev, a Bart resident, and other refugees, delegations, including those from Chechnya, come and go, made promises, but only Ingush authorities really engage in solving the refugees' problems. "President of Ingushetia Murat Zyazikov has visited the camp many times. He is the only one who has provided concrete help to us for the last years, with the exception of Islamic Relief, a humanitarian organization, which is a partner of the United Nations," says Lema Makhmadjiev.

Editors note: See also the article "Presidential Commission on Human Rights chairwoman studies situation with Chechen refugees' home-coming".