Chechen refugees
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2008-07-06T16:41:32Z
Rjwilmsi
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[[Image:T.TM.ASI.112.jpg|thumb|250px|Chechen children in the [[Pankisi Gorge]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]]]
During the inter-ethnic strife in [[Chechnya]] and the two separatist [[Chechen wars]], hundreds of thousands of '''Chechen refugees''' have left their homes and left the republic for elsewhere in [[Russia]] and abroad.
==In Russia==
The [[Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre]] (IDMC) reports that hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes in Chechnya since 1990.<ref>[http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/(httpCountrySummaries)/441ED4F5458A7C1DC125733600369629?OpenDocument&count=10000 Government efforts help only some IDPs rebuild their lives], [[Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre|IDMC]], 13 August 2007</ref> This included majority of Chechnya non-Chechen population of 300,000 (mostly [[Russians]], but also [[Armenians]], [[Ingush]], [[Georgians]], [[Ukrainians]] and many more) who had left the republic in the early 1990s and as of 2008 never returned (it is hardly possible they would ever return).
Many ethnic [[Chechen people|Chechens]] have also moved to [[Moscow]] and other Russian cities. According to the 2008 study by the [[Norwegian Refugee Council]], some 139,000 Chechens remained displaced in the Russian Federation.
===Ingushetia===
In the nearby republic of [[Ingushetia]], at the peak of the refugee crisis after the start of the [[Second Chechen War]] in 2000, estimated 240,000 refugees almost doubled the Ingushetia's pre-war population of 300,000 (350,000 including the refugees from the [[Ingush-Ossetian conflict]]) and resulting in an [[epidemy]] of [[tuberculosis]].<ref>[http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/cd08690452d2399bc1256a47004dc615 Tuberculosis sweeps Ingushetia with influx of Chechen refugees] [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]]/[[ReliefWeb]], 09 May 2001</ref> Estimated 325,000 was the total number of people that have entered Ingushetia as refugees in the first year of the [[Second Chechen War]].<ref name="ingush"/> Some 185,000 were in the republic already by November 1999<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/525880.stm World: Europe UN envoy meets Chechen refugees], [[BBC News]], November 18, 1999</ref> and 215,000 lived in Ingushetia by June 2000.<ref name="ingush">[http://ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/human_rights.html Information on the Chechen refugee situation in Ingushetia in the late 2000] [[University of California]], Sept. 10, 2000</ref> In October of 1999 the border with Ingushetia was closed down by the Russian military and [[Baku-Rostov highway bombing|a refugee convoy bombed]] after being turned away.
Thousands of them were pressured to return by the Russian military already in December 1999,<ref>[http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/1999/12/17/russia8893.htm Chechen Refugees in Ingushetia Pressured to Return] [[Human Rights Watch]], 12/17/99</ref> and the [[refugee camp]]s were forcibly closed after 2001 by the new Chechen government of President [[Akhmad Kadyrov]] and the new Ingush government of President [[Murat Zyazikov]].<ref>[http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/01/da5ec5a1-a5dd-41ad-85a2-def289e41edc.html Russia: Chechen Refugees Face Ejection From Camps In Ingushetia] [[Radio Free Europe]], January 14, 2004</ref> About 180,000 Chechens remained in Ingushetia by February 2002<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0205/p07s02-woeu.html Russia says 'return,' but Chechen refugees stay put] ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', February 05, 2002</ref> and 150,000 by June 2002, most of them housed in a "[[tent city]]" camps, abandoned [[farm]]s and [[factory|factories]] and disused [[train]]s, or living with sympathetic families.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0612/p06s01-woeu.html Chechens wary of homecoming] ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', June 12, 2002</ref> As of early 2007, less than 20,000 Chechens remained in Ingushetia and many of them were expected to [[integration|integrate]] locally rather than return to Chechnya.
===Chechnya===
As of 2006, more than 100,000 people remain [[internally displaced person]]s (IDP) within Chechnya, most of whom live in substandard housing and [[poverty]]. All official IDP centers in the republic were closed down and the foreign NGO aid severely limited by the government (including the ban of the [[Danish Refugee Council]]).
==Abroad==
Since 2003 there is a sharp surge of Chechen asylum-seekers arriving abroad, at a time when major combat operations had largely ceased. One explanation is the process of "[[Chechenization]]", which empowered former separatists Ahmed Kadyrov and his son [[Ramzan Kadyrov]] as the leaders of Chechnya (indeed, Chechen refugees indicated that they feared Chechen security forces more than Russian troops). Another explanation is that after a decade of war and lawlessness, many Chechens have given up hope of ever rebuilding a normal life at home and instead try to start a new life in [[exile]].
===European Union===
In 2003, some 33,000 Russian citizens (over 90% of them presumed to be Chechens) applied for [[Refugee|asylum]] in the [[European Union]] (EU), according to the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]], making them the largest group of new refugees arriving in [[developed nation]]s. Czech refugee camps were said to be "overhelmed" due to an overwhelming number of Chechen refugees crossing to the [[Czech Republic]] in 2003.<ref>[http://www.radio.cz/en/article/48947 Czech camps overwhelmed by Chechen Refugees], [[Refugees International]], 30-12-2003</ref>
In [[Poland]], almost 3,600 Chechens have applied for [[refugee]] status in the first eight months of 2007 alone and over 6,000 in the next four months.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/14/europe/EU-GEN-Poland-Migrant-Deaths.php Polish border guards find 3 dead Chechen girls near Ukrainian border], [[IHR]], September 14, 2007
</ref><ref name="wprost">[http://www.wprost.pl/ar/125335/O-azyl-prosi-coraz-wiecej-Czeczenow/ O azyl prosi coraz więcej Czeczenów], ''[[Wprost]]'', 2008-03-10 07:13</ref> As of 2008, the Chechens are the greatest group (90% in 2007<ref name="wprost"/>) of refugees arriving in Poland, on the eastern border of the EU, often treated as a transit country further west.
In the [[United Kingdom]] there is a large number of Chechen refugees. Some of them wanted by Russia for [[terrorism]] and other crimes; however, the UK government refuses to extradite them on grounds of concern for [[human rights]]. Some of the original Chechen separatist government figures relocated to the UK.
Thousands of Chechen families live in [[France]]; many of them in [[Nice]], conflicted with immigrants from [[North Africa]].<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=416&issue_id=3919&article_id=2371635 CHECHEN AND AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS BATTLE IN NICE, FRANCE], [[The Jamestown Foundation]], November 09, 2006</ref> As of 2008, thousands more are trying to get to France from Poland.<ref>[http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1201228321.26/ Chechen refugees chase 'French dream' following Schengen expansion], [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]], 25 January 2008</ref>
[[Austria]] granted asylum rights to more than 2,000 Chechen refugees in 2007. In January, 2008, [[Jörg Haider]], a [[far right]] governor of [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]], called for a moratorium on giving them asylum blaming some already there for violence and sex crimes.<ref>PR-inside, [http://www.pr-inside.com/austrian-right-wing-politician-demands-moratorium-r383185.htm Austrian right-wing politician demands moratorium on asylum for immigrants from Chechnya], 12.01.2008</ref><ref>[[Ö1]] Inforadio, [http://oe1.orf.at/inforadio/85477.html?filter=1 Chechens deported from Carinthia], 12.01.2008</ref>
Thousands more settled in the other EU countries, in particular in [[Belgium]] (many in [[Aarschot]]), [[Norway]], [[Sweden]] and [[Germany]].
===Other countries===
Of 4,000 Chechens who have sought safety in neighbouring [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], the majority have settled in [[Pankisi Gorge]] and several hundred remain today. Of 12,000 Chechen refugees who arrived in [[Azerbaijan]], most has moved on to Europe later (leaving some 5,000 in 2003<ref>[http://www.watchdog.cz/index.php?show=000000-000002-000001-000110-000037&lang=1 Chechen refugees in Azerbaijan] [[National Endowment for Democracy]], March 4th 2003 </ref> and 2,000 in 2007<ref>[http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=36463 Chechen refugees living in Azerbaijan demand granting citizenship to an estimated 2000 of them], APA, 03 Oct 2007</ref>). Both Azerbaijan and Georgia have [[extradition|extradited]] Chechen refugees to Russia in violation of their obligations under [[international law]] (the [[European Court of Human Rights]] has ruled that Georgia violated their rights).
Some 3,000 to 4,000 Chechens arrived in [[Turkey]], of which most also moved on further, but as of 2005 some 1,500 stayed.<ref>[http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=409&issue_id=3234&article_id=2369276 THE CHECHEN DIASPORA IN TURKEY], [[The Jamestown Foundation]], February 16, 2005</ref>
[[Ukraine]] is the main transit country for Chechen refugees traveling to Europe. Some other travel through [[Belarus]].
A small, but growing Chechen community exists in the [[United States]].
==See also==
*[[Muhajir (Caucasus)]], the [[emigration]] of [[Muslim]] [[indigenous peoples]] from the [[Caucasus]] into the [[Ottoman Empire]] following the Russian conquest during the 19th century.
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
==External links==
*[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/06/22/015.html Chechen Refugees Fast to Decry War] [[The Associated Press]], June 22, 2001
*[http://www.ecre.org/positions/Chechen.doc Guidelines on the Treatment of Chechen IDPs, Asylum Seekers& Refugees in Europe] [[European Council on Refugees and Exiles]]
*[http://ingush.berkeley.edu:7012/human_rights.html Information on the Chechen refugee situation in Ingushetia in the late 2000] [[University of California]], Sept. 10, 2000
*[http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/7442/ Poland: Chechen Refugees Grateful for Protection but Need Integration Support] [[Refugees International]], 12/06/2005
*[http://www.chechnyaadvocacy.org/refugees.html Refugees and Diaspora] [[Chechnya Advocacy Network]], 2007
*[http://www.ihrc.org.uk/show.php?id=1290 The Plight of Chechen Refugees revisited] [[Islamic Human Rights Commission]], 21 March 2005
*[http://www.chechnyaadvocacy.org/refugees/The%20right%20not%20to%20return%20-%20Naumann.pdf The right not to return: the situation of displaced Chechens dispersed in the Russian Federation], [[Chechnya Advocacy Network]], August 2003
[[Category:Chechen people|Refugees]]
[[Category:Russian refugees]]