12 August 2008, 11:17
120 families of forced migrants disconnected from electricity and gas in Chechnya
Inhabitants of one of the hostels for those in need of improving their housing conditions, which were earlier named "temporary accommodation centres (TACs) of forced migrants", located in Gudermes (Chechnya), complain that on August 5 the building, where over 400 persons lived, mostly women and children, was cut off from gas and electricity supplies.
"Our TAC, or 'hostel', as they now call it, housed some 120 families of forced migrants. Some of them were transferred here after closing of other TACs, others lived here from the USSR time and have registration," said one of the women-tenants speaking to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent; she is a native of the Vedeno District and refused to tell her surname. "Some weeks ago they told us that the building would be repaired and demanded that we quit our rooms." According to her story, most of the tenants are natives from the Vedeno and Kurchaloy Districts.
"Many of us just have nowhere to go, as our houses were destroyed during military actions. While the bureaucrats want us to go back to the places of permanent registration. They will leave here only those who are registered in this building, but there are very few such residents," she said.
An employee of the Gudermes administration asserts that no violations have been admitted in relation to the forced migrants living in the hostel, located at the address of No. 76 Depovskaya Street.
Author: Muslim Ibragimov, CK correspondent