14:35, 26 May 2004

Migration service continues to put pressure on refugees in Ingushetia

Migration service officials have applied a new method of putting pressure on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the last large tent camp for Chechen refugees Satsita, which is situated on the outskirts of the Ordzhonikidzevskaya village, Ingushetia's Sunzha district. Representatives of the Russian Federal Migration Service promised to pay a $500 reward to every refugee who would persuade 10 families of IDPs to voluntarily leave for the Chechen Republic.

Having taken on trust the migration service officials' promises, a family of 12 people left for Chechnya a few days ago. They were promised that accommodation in the refugee center on Tchaikovskogo Street in Grozny would be allotted to them right upon their arrival their. But it turned out at the spot that there were no vacant rooms in this center. The refugees had to stay in a room of their close relative, in which several other people already lived at that moment.

Source: Infromation Center of the Council of NGOs