The vast majority of refugees who have fled fighting in Russia's Chechnya province
are too scared to return home, a survey by an international aid group showed on
Monday.
The findings of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) survey, which was obtained
by Reuters, contradict officials in Moscow, who say Chechnya is returning
to normal and that the decade-long military campaign against separatist rebels
has worked. They have trumpeted the return of refugees as proof. "It is
obvious that people have been returning to Chechnya against their will, giving
up under tremendous pressure and without other choice," said the conclusion to
the MSF survey, due to be published soon.
The United Nations and other organisations criticised Russia in December for forcing
refugees to return to Chechnya, where buildings and public services have been
shattered by the war between Russian forces and rebels.
The MSF survey was conducted in February and March, with MSF workers interviewing
3,209 families, totalling 16,499 people from eight official and unofficial
encampments in the neighbouring province of Ingushetia. It was partly funded by
ECHO, the European Union humanitarian aid office.
More than 98 percent of the families said they had no plans to return to Chechnya,
with 93 percent of those families saying they were worried for their safety
if they did go back to the mountainous, mostly Muslim region.
They gave reasons including fear of arrest, continued violence by rebels and Russian
forces, as well as concerns about where they would live when they got back.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are 91,700 Chechen refugees
in Ingushetia. In January, it put the figure at 102,000.
Shortly after the MSF survey was conducted, Chechens overwhelmingly approved a
new constitution tying the region to Moscow in a vote dismissed by separatists
as a farce.
Moscow said the vote made the rebels irrelevant and showed overwhelming support
for Moscow's peace plan, including local presidential and assembly elections.
But insurgents have pursued a campaign opposing the Russian presence, with eight
workers and five police killed in the most serious attacks this month.
MSF said authorities in Ingushetia were trying to force refugees to return by
depriving them of aid or saying they would get no compensation for destroyed
property unless they left.
The survey said 74 percent of Chechen families feared having nowhere to live if
they returned to Chechnya, even though they are currently housed in tents
and shelters.
MSF, with money from Norway and the EU, built about 180 shelters at the camps
to house refugees, but said the local administration was trying to force
their demolition.