| Alarming news
from Czech Republic The anti-Chechen stir launched by the Austrian authorities around the Chechen refugees in that state has not subsided yet. And now Czech Republic started talking about it as well. A phone call late Sunday night informed a Kavkaz Center reporter about a critical situation around Chechen refugee camps in that state. Several men (whose names in this article have been changed for clear reasons) barely managed to get to one of the towns near the border (women being among them) and told about hopelessness of the situation without shunning their tears. They were talking about the Vysni Lhoty refugee camp located 20-30 kilometers away from the town of Ostrava (North Moravia) near the Polish border. The people I have talked to, Rizvan and Aset, said that the situation was so serious that international organizations and governmental and non-governmental structures must intervene immediately. The life of the camp's residents is no different from a Russian prison camp that many Chechens are so familiar with. The camp is fenced with an iron grid, the police are guarding it on the outside and not letting anyone leave the camp's premises. The movement around the camp is totally restricted. The situation inside and around the camp is under a strict informational blockade. People have no right to use cellular phones, camcorders or take any photos. Meetings with mass media are strictly prohibited. During the first three to four weeks over 500 people (besides Chechens there are other ethnic groups as well) have to live in unbearable conditions that a normal person cannot put up with. The situation does not change when they get transferred to other facilities. Per one barrack there are three to four families living with no partitions at all. Special permission must be obtained from the overseeing police officer if you want to move closer to your relatives or loved ones living next door. There are serious problems with food as well. For several weeks in a row people were living on potatoes after spending their last savings for the road to Czech Republic. Many people are suffering from malnutrition, especially Chechen children suffering from starvation. Aset had a shaky voice when he was telling me about that situation. A mother of five is in a serious condition, not having means for medical treatment or food. Her oldest daughter is 12 and her youngest son is less than a year old. In the foreign land thee is no hope that tomorrow can bring. Local branch of the International Red Cross, where the refugees sometimes manage to contact over the phone, is sending them to... the police!!!... The rumors about the Western «paradise» were strongly exaggerated, Rizvan says. The attitude towards these people, who were fleeing from the war, is very bad if not the worst. For example, there are many Chechens who were maimed by bombings and who lost their arms and legs. Some have psychological problems. Very few are in a normal state after that war. But none of it is taken into consideration. The attitude is totally indifferent and disparaging. No concern about the wounded whatsoever. Very strange situation with medical treatment too. Many of the refugees are being driven to some medical facilities against their will. Those facilities are called «healthcare units». One of them is called «Yablunkovo». Nothing is being said about the diagnosis, nor do they make any diagnosis. The first week goes without any medicine at all. Starting the second week, they start giving you some pills. One Chechen lady was held in there for two weeks and was given one pill a day. The author of this article tried to find out about what was going on from other sources. People who went through it told me that international organizations earmark 3,500 euros per three weeks for each patient held at a hospital. The money goes to the accounts of the health centers (or hospitals), whose employees catch the refugees and throw them in there like in a jail just to make up for the money. It would have been endurable, had proper treatment and proper food been given. The stories of the people I talked to were long and gloomy. It was hard to believe that all of it is going on right in the heart of Europe, where «democratic principles» are being proclaimed so widely. All we have to do is hope that Chechen representations abroad will do all they can to intervene in the situation, and that the Czech authorities will stop the humiliation and harassment of the victims of Russian aggression. On behalf of the refugees we are also appealing to social organizations of the Czech Republic and to the country's mass media to intervene. We would also like to hope that the Czech public will raise its voice in defense of the Chechen refugees. Vakha Hasanov, Kavkaz-Center 2003-08-26 12:09:24 |