18:15, 19 March 2004

Sputnik tent camp in Ingushetia to be dismantled soon

One more refugee camp in the village of Ordzhonikidzevskaya, Ingushetia's Sunzha district, will be dismantled in the near future. The Caucasian Knot correspondent learnt about it at the Sunzha district migration department. The head of the Federal Migration Service, Igor Yunash, has signed order No 20/2159 recently, in conformity with which the Sputnik tent camp will be closed on April 1, 2004.

As of March 16, over 150 tents, which are home to over 800 displaced persons from Chechnya, still remain in the camp, according to information of the district migration department. "Most of the camp inhabitants are going to return to their homeland. Issues of their move and accommodation are being settled already," said Ali Parov, head of the Sunzha district migration department. "Nobody will be force out of the republic. Alternative lodging at places of compact residence is being allotted to those refugees who want to stay in Ingushetia for some time."

Editors note: See also the articles "Refugees from Sputnik camp refuse to return to Chechnya", "About 150 refugee families plan to return to Chechnya from Ingushetia".

Author: Malika Suleymanova, CK correspondent

Source: Caucasian Knot