Fallen between two millstones

Since 17 April Kazbich Chechenskii, a Chechen refugee, has been on hunger strike in the village of Duisi, in the Pankisi region of Georgia. The 43-year-old writer and commentator has set up a tent in the very centre of the village, demanding that he and other Chechens who sought refuge from the war in Georgia, should be allowed to move on to other countries. This hunger strike is a final attempt to draw attention to the growing suffering of several thousand people, who have been forced to leave their homes and now have nowhere to go.

Chechenskii?s hunger strike is neither a protest, nor an authorised demonstration with a megaphone. It is the only way in which the protesters can express the extent of their desperation. Four thousand people, who fled Chechnya and are seeking asylum in Georgia, are now on the verge of starvation. It was agreed in December 2002 that the amount of humanitarian aid, provided by the international humanitarian organisations for each family would be: 27 kilos of flour, 1.5 litres of sunflower oil and 3.6 kilos of beans, to last for two months. It appears that the ?hunger strike? in the village began long before now.

According to the Chechen Human Rights Centre, practically all humanitarian support for the refugees ceased in April. The Centre alleges that insignificant humanitarian aid, sent to the village, went missing en route and never reached its destination. Russia, which claims Chechnya as her own, is not taking any responsibility for ?her own? citizens. Russia has not provided any food or other assistance.

The refugees have no medical assistance: local hospitals are completely unequipped and have no medicines. Naturally, the refugees cannot afford to travel to Tbilisi. Many of them are chronically ill, and struggled to survive the winter. Relying on the hospitality of friends, relatives and other Georgians who have taken pity on them, they are made to feel like outcasts, not wanted by either Russia or Georgia.

At a press conference in Tbilisi on 25 March 2003 the unofficial head of the Chechen republic, Khizri Aldamov read out a letter from the Committee of Chechen Refugees, located in Pankisi region. The letter told of cases of illegal detentions, improper behaviour towards people, and looting in the course of a sweep-up in the region. The refugees complain that ?the activities of the Georgian security forces are no different from the barbaric tactics employed by the Russian occupying forces in Chechnya?.

The ?anti-terrorist? operations carried out in the village of Birkiani on 10 and 11 April may have been Georgia?s response to this letter. The Pareulidze family, whose home was searched several times over the two days, told of armed Georgian special forces, who picked out people living in the house, then, without any explanation and without arresting anybody, left again.

At the same press conference in Tbilisi at the end of March Buais Anzorov, leader of the Committee of Chechen Refugees, reported that a 25-year old refugee, Hussein Yusupov, and 40-year-old Adam Talatov had both disappeared without trace after being arrested by Georgian police.

The main justification for the searches and arrests of refugees is ?membership of terrorist organisations and gangs?, which in the context of a general anti-terror campaign, does not have to be based on convincing evidence. There is very low degree of justice here. There is further anxiety around the case of 13 Chechens, arrested on the Georgia-Russia border in August last year. Russia is asking for them to be handed over, accusing them of terrorism and other serious crimes. Five of them have already been extradited, and a decision on the extradition of a further three is expected on Friday. Two of the people arrested turned out to be Georgian citizens and Russia has received an official refusal by Tbilisi to hand them over.

The precarious situation of Chechen refugees in Georgia may deteriorate even further in response to world events. Moscow?s disapproval of the military agreement between Georgia and the USA may force Tbilisi to reach some compromise with Russia, for example in resolving the painful question of the Chechen refugees. They may become pawns in the great political game being played out by states in conflict.

What will become of them, desperate to find shelter no matter where, yet kicked under the carpet by Moscow?s military policies, the inhumanity of Georgia?s security forces, and the apathy of the whole world?