DATE=11/20/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=CHECHNYA - REFUGEES
NUMBER=5-44803
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=NAZRAN, INGUSHETIA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: United Nations officials say they would not
describe the plight of Chechen refugees in Ingushetia
as a "humanitarian catastrophe" but stressed the need
for humanitarian aid before cold weather sets in.
Refugees at border crossings and in the republic's
overcrowded underfunded hospitals say they need aid
desperately. They say civilians, not Islamic
militants, are being targeted by Russian troops.
Correspondent Eve Conant reports from the Chechen -
Ingushetia border.
TEXT: There is little traffic this day at Kaz Kaz 1,
the main border crossing between Chechnya and
Ingushetia. A crowd of several hundred gathers hoping
to catch sight of relatives crossing over.
Others are waiting to cross back into Chechnya but the
Russian troops guarding the post will not let them
through. Yaxha Mytaeva (yah - ha - mah - tye - eh -
vah) has been standing here all day hoping to walk
over or take a bus into Chechnya to bring food to her
invalid daughter.
// Russian act. , fade under //
It is simple genocide she says. We stand here and
hope but they won't let us in or out. The only thing
we can do is lie down in our graves and die. But, she
says, even then no one will see us and no one will
understand.
Many other refugees say the same. They do not believe
the West knows or understands what is happening to
them. They ask why there are no foreign journalists
inside Chechnya and they ask why no one seems to be
doing anything to stop Russia from attacking
civilians.
In a nearby hospital, Elza Habaybbo (Heh by ah bah)
tends to her four year old daughter. The girl's
stomach is wrapped tightly in bandages and her arms
and legs are covered with tiny holes from shrapnel.
The mother says, even though her daughter was bleeding
heavily, border guards would not let them pass through
quickly.
//act. of little girl in Russian//
We begged please have pity on the child, my only
child, let us cross she said. But no, the soldiers at
the post held us there for an hour because they had
orders not to let anyone through until 8:00 AM.
Down the hall (of the hospital), 20 year old Asta
Astamirova (ass tah meer ah vah) lies in a crowded
room with her two children by her side. But both her
boys are injured and she herself is wrapped in
bandages. The wrappings on her right arm are soaked
in blood and her finger tips are painted with a chalky
white paste. She cannot sit up in bed but lies on her
back and trys to tell her story. The young woman says
her car was fired on as she and her family tried to
drive back into Chechnya to bury her husband.
//Astamirova act., fade under//
We were coming from Ingushetia to Chechnya, she says.
My husband was killed on the 15th and we wanted to
bring his body back home for a proper burial. She
says she does not remember much except that she saw
Russian soldiers.
//2d Astamirova act., fade under//
She says I jumped out of the car and said, "Don't
shoot us, we are women and children." But they said,
"shut-up, we will shoot you. And if you were not a
woman we would kill you. The next thing she
remembers, she was at the hospital. Refugees coming
into Ingushetia say the main road, called the Vaku -
Rostov highway is littered with the burned out shells
of civilian vehicles that have been fired on by
Russian troops. Border guards say it is not uncommon
for refugees to carry bodies across the border.
Either people who died while trying to escape or
relatives who bring bodies back into the war zone to
bury them on Chechen soil. (Signed)
NEB/EC/PLM
20-Nov-1999 06:26 AM EDT (20-Nov-1999 1126 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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