Activists: employment is main problem of Syrian repatriates in KBR

The census, conducted by activists of the public organization "Ochag" (Hearth) aims to study the situation with repatriate families in order to provide those in need with targeted help. Their main problem is the issue of employment, activists report.

"The Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) id inhabited by about a thousand Syrian Circassians, who settled in the republic during the military conflict in Syria. We've recently completed a census of the repatriates living in the countryside. Soon we'll start a census of urban repatriates," Asker Bora, the chairman of the "Ochag", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The census has established that 386 repatriates from Syria, including 132 children, live in the countryside.

One of the aims of the census is to reveal the main problems that our compatriots from Syria are facing, Olga Efendieva-Begret, an activist of the "Ochag", told the "Caucasian Knot".

"Thus, for example, there are many families in need of better housing conditions, of making documents, and of material help. We've registered the repatriates who need constant reception of essential drugs; large families, who need regular support, and so on," she said.

But the main problems of Syrian Circassians in the KBR are the issues of employment, which is greatly aggravated by poor knowledge of the Russian language, Ms Efendieva-Begret has added.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.