August 12th 2003 · Prague Watchdog

Refugees placed in former warehouse for pesticides

Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus, August 11 – Nine refugees of those who were recently displaced from the “Bela  refugee camp in Ingushetia to the nearby Ordzhonikidzevskaya village have been hospitalized after inhaling poisonous chemical substances.

Virtually all members of some 40 families who had agreed to move from the camp to private garages on the Oskanova Street in the Ordzhonikidzevskaya village soon began to experience physical problems like dizziness and nausea.

When someone accidentally spilt water on the concrete floor in the room, the water sizzled and started bubbling. The reason for general sickness then became clear. All rooms where the refugees were placed were once used for storing pesticides. District officials and high ministry representatives immediately rushed to the spot. They resolved to take the refugees back to the camp they had forced them to leave a few days earlier.

The families have now become a burden in a camp where they have lived for the past four years. The camp lacks tents, and setting up new ones is not allowed. Some people spend nights out in the open. The lucky ones have managed to get into the local school, where more than 20 people dwell in one classroom.

Once again the refugees are appealing to international organizations and Russian President Putin and Ingush President Zyazikov for help. They request that the authorities let them stay in the camp until the situation in Chechnya is fully stabilized and they call for the punishment of those who are guilty of moving them into the garages.

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