DATE=7/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N-H-C-R / CHECHNYA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264739
BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN
DATELINE=GENEVA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations refugee agency, U-N-H-C-R,
says between 100 and 200 Chechen refugees are fleeing
into the neighboring republic of Ingushetia every day.
Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the agency says the
refugees are fleeing continued fighting and security
problems in Chechnya.
TEXT: U-N-H-C-R spokesman Ron Redmond says most of
the Chechens arriving in Ingushetia are joining
relatives in camps for displaced people. He says
these camps now shelter about 200-thousand people.
Mr. Redmond says the newly arriving refugees report
continued fighting and skirmishes between the Russian
military and Chechen rebels.
/// REDMOND ACT ONE ///
They also report that it's just extremely
difficult for many of them to scrape by in
Chechnya. U-N-H-C-R itself and other aid
agencies, for example, are finding it difficult
if not impossible to get supplies in there
because of the security situation. In fact, U-
N-H-C-R staff are not going in there, although
we are sending some limited supplies to some
places.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Redmond says Russian aid agencies are bringing
food, medicine, and other supplies to some of the most
vulnerable people in Chechnya. He says the United
Nations provides food supplies to local aid agencies,
which distribute them to the Chechens. But he calls
the international aid "just a drop in the bucket of
enormous need."
Mr. Redmond says that since October, when Russian
troops started their campaign in Chechnya, the refugee
agency has sent 81 aid convoys to the north Caucasus
region, 67 of them to Ingushetia. He says the economy
in Ingushetia is very bad and people are having
difficulty making ends meet.
/// REDMOND ACT TWO ///
Quite a few of the people who have previously
been living with host families are now moving
into the camps. U-N-H-C-R is now erecting more
tents and more shelter in some of these camps
that are spread around Ingushetia, so that these
newcomers will have a place to stay. And then,
of course we continue to see up to 200 people
coming across every day from Chechnya itself.
/// END ACT ///
Refugee agency spokesman Redmond says about 50 people
a day return from Ingushetia to Chechnya. He says
they usually go back to relatively safe areas.
However, he says, others go back only to check on
their homes and farms, and then return to Ingushetia.
(Signed)
NEB/LS/JWH/WTW
24-Jul-2000 10:00 AM EDT (24-Jul-2000 1400 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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