14 November 2003, 16:55
Chechen refugees forced to go home
Several cases with false signatures of refugees were signaled from Ingushetia's "Sputnik" camp situated in the Ordzhonikidzevskaya village when unknown suspects filled in application blanks on behalf of internally displaced persons for their return to Chechnya.
Residents of the camp reported it on November 12. The people believe it to be another trick of the authorities to compel the refugees to return to Chechnya.
"I was very surprised when the administration told me just yesterday about my intention to leave the camp. They showed me the application I had allegedly submitted a week ago. When I said I did not intend to return home, the officials insisted it was better for me to voluntarily leave the camp taking advantage of the given privileges, otherwise I would take risks of remaining out in the street as from that time my name would be crossed off the Ingush Migration Service's lists anyway," says a local woman Zalina Saikhanova.
Meanwhile, representatives of the camp administration rule out any possibility that someone fills in the application blanks on behalf of the refugees. "This could be done either by family members or by close relatives. You know, it's just because the people hesitate, change their mind and find lots of excuses after the documents have been already drawn up," affirms the camp administration.
Nonetheless, the refugees are concerned with the situation. The majority of locals say they are afraid the migration service officials will apply such actions, as well as those when refugees' names are unreasonably crossed off the lists for humanitarian help, to force them out of the camp.
Source: Caucasus Times Website
