DATE=11/19/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CHECHNYA / U-N (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256370
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The U-N High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako
Ogata, is urging Russia to improve assistance programs
for those fleeing the military offensive in Chechnya.
But as V-O-A's Peter Heinlein reports, Ms. Ogata
downplayed talk of a humanitarian catastrophe.
TEXT: One day after touring camps along Chechnya's
border with Ingushetia, Ms. Ogata chided Russian
officials for not doing more to help the refugees.
She said there were not enough workers to help
unload and distribute supplies to those who need them
urgently.
She noted that her agency is still waiting for Russia
to answer her request for security guarantees for U-N
staff she would like to send to the region to help.
The world body pulled all staff out of the Northern
Caucasus nearly two years ago after gunmen kidnapped a
U-N employee in a neighboring republic and held him
for 11 months.
But when asked if she agrees with human rights groups
that describe conditions in the camps as
"catastrophic," Ms. Ogata declined to comment.
/// OGATA ACT ///
We would usually use the word catastrophe when
there is a high death rate, when there is
starvation, epidemic, then there is a
humanitarian catastrophe. I would not define
the current situation as a catastrophe.
However, the winter is coming and there is a lot
of people more than these camps have been set up
to accommodate. And this is why quick action is
necessary to prevent any worsening of the
situation.
/// END ACT ///
Officials say nearly 220-thousand refugees have poured
out of Chechnya since Russia began its aerial bombing
campaign in early September. The vast majority are in
Ingushetia, where many are living in tents or sealed
railroad cars, facing freezing temperatures with
little food, water, or warm clothing.
Ingushetia itself has a population of only 340-
thousand, and the region's president has spent much of
the past ten weeks warning of a looming crisis unless
urgent assistance arrives. But federal authorities
have consistently dismissed those pleas, saying the
situation is under control.
The U-N refugee agency has supplied 100 tons of relief
supplies to Ingushetia each of the past three weeks,
and has promised to double that amount as soon as
Russia agrees to provide the necessary security.
(Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/KL
19-Nov-1999 13:45 PM EDT (19-Nov-1999 1845 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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