Some 200 refugees ready to return from Georgia to Chechnya

Some 200 Chechen refugees said they wanted to return to Chechnya from Georgia's Pankissi Gorge, announced the joint Georgian-Russian interdepartmental commission working on the return of Chechen refugees from the Pankissi Gorge to Chechnya.

"Some 200 Chechen refugees have expressed their wish to return to their homes. Their documents will be transferred to the Russian embassy in Tbilisi in the near future," Tamaz Chogovadze, a spokesman for the Georgian Emergency Situations Ministry, said on June 7.

Russian officials have informed their Georgian colleagues in the joint commission that several dozens of Chechen families returned from the Pankissi Gorge to their homes last year and are so far happy with their choice.

Igor Yunash, the head of the Russian delegation, said that "the purpose of our visit is to help our compatriots who would like to return home, and not only to Chechnya, but if they want to return to any other region of Russia, we will help them."

The Russian delegation is expected to visit the Pankissi Gorge on Tuesday, June 8, to meet with Chechen refugees, the number of whom comes to three thousand people, according to official Georgian data.