19 November 1999
Text: UNHCR Ogata Phones Annan from Moscow on Chechnya Trip
("Good" discussions with Russians on humanitarian situation) (530)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Sadaka
Ogata, told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan by telephone from Moscow
that she had "good discussions" about the humanitarian crisis in the
North Caucasus with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov and Minister of Civil Defense, Emergencies, and
Natural Disasters Sergey Shoigu.
Ogata's positive appraisal of her mission to Russia as Annan's special
envoy was reported in a UN press release issued November 19 in New
York.
Ogata was able to travel to northern Chechnya, Ingushetia, and to the
border crossings, assessing the plight of refugees as well as possible
sites for centers for returnees, according to the release.
The release also quoted a UNHCR official in Geneva as saying that in
Mrs. Ogata's meetings with the Russian officials, she detected "more
concern with the humanitarian situation and more willingness to accept
international aid."
Following is the text of the UN release:
(begin text)
The United Nations
New York, New York
November 19, 1999
SADAKA OGATA REPORTS "GOOD" TALKS WITH RUSSIAN OFFICIALS ON
HUMANITARIAN AID IN NORTHERN CAUCASUS.
19 November -- The head of the United Nations refugee agency said in
Moscow today that her talks with Russian officials on the northern
Caucasus had laid the groundwork for future cooperation between the UN
and Russia on humanitarian aid.
Sadaka Ogata, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), spoke by
telephone to Secretary-General Kofi Annan who had sent her to Russia
as his Special Envoy to look into the humanitarian situation in the
region as a result of the Chechnya conflict.
According to Mr. Annan's spokesman, the Secretary-General was
"grateful for the cooperation the Russian authorities have extended to
his Special Envoy and looks forward to her report."
While in Moscow, Mrs. Ogata had held what she said were "good
discussions" with Prime Minister Putin, Foreign Minister Ivanov and
Minister of Emergency Situations Shoigu. Those talks, she said, had
provided "a good basis" for future cooperation.
In addition to her meetings in Moscow, Mrs. Ogata traveled to border
crossings and northern Chechnya, as well as to neighbouring
Ingushetia, where she visited internally displaced people, camps and
hospitals.
In Ingushetia, Mrs. Ogata visited a train settlement, where refugees
live in tents and railroad cars, a UNHCR spokesman said today in
Geneva. With Russian artillery and shelling rumbling in the distance,
the refugees told Mrs. Ogata they wanted the fighting to stop so that
they could return to their homes, the spokesman said. The High
Commissioner found very difficult conditions on the ground, including
problems of poor drainage, sanitation and basic necessities.
On Thursday, Mrs. Ogata flew by helicopter to the northern section of
Chechnya under control of Russian forces where the authorities showed
her possible centres that could be used for housing returnees. In her
meetings with the Russian officials, Mrs. Ogata detected more concern
with the humanitarian situation and more willingness to accept
international aid, the UNHCR spokesman said.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State)
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