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Asylum seeker killed in Moscow; Ingush camp for Chechens closed

News Stories, 2 April 2004

Displaced Chechens in MRD temporary settlement in the Sunzhenski district of Ingushetia.

GENEVA, April 2 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency has expressed concern about the latest in a string of violent attacks on asylum seekers in Moscow. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Russian Federation, the authorities in Ingushetia have closed Sputnik camp for displaced Chechens.

UNHCR has expressed "deep regret" over the death of Afghan asylum seeker Abdul Wase Abdul Karim on Wednesday. In what appears to have been a racially-motivated attack, he was beaten up on March 25 by skinheads wielding metal bars in a metro station in south Moscow. He died in hospital six days later, without ever regaining consciousness.

Russian authorities are investigating the case.

Karim, a member of the Afghan Tajik minority, arrived in the Russian Federation in May 1998 after fleeing the Taliban regime in Herat. He registered with UNHCR in May 2000, and received a "pre-registration" number with the Moscow Migration Service, but did not manage to enter the national refugee status determination (RSD) procedure before his death.

Local media said he left behind his Russian wife and a three-month-old daughter.

Karim's murder is the latest in a series of violent attacks on asylum seekers in Moscow. In September 2001, Angolan asylum seeker Massa Mayoni was killed in a similar attack. Last August, an Ethiopian asylum seeker was injured in another attack that appeared to be racially-motivated. Other less serious assaults on asylum seekers have often gone unreported.

Of the 5,790 asylum seekers registered with UNHCR in Moscow, 4,839 are from Afghanistan. Unofficial estimates put the number of Afghans living in refugee-like situations in the Russian Federation at up to 100,000.

The refugee agency is working with the authorities to speed up the process of claiming asylum. Currently, about two-thirds of the UNHCR-registered asylum seekers are waiting for access to the RSD procedure and remain undocumented during the two-year waiting period. During this time, they cannot work legally, and are subject to fines and threats of deportation.

As of 31 December 2003, there were 8,725 recognised refugees in the Russian Federation, including 362 people from non-CIS (Commonwealth of the Independent States) countries, of which 346 are Afghans. In addition, 1,232 people – mostly Afghans – have been granted temporary asylum.

In a separate development on Thursday, the authorities in the Russian republic of Ingushetia closed Sputnik camp for displaced Chechens. According to the Danish Refugee Council, UNHCR's implementing partner, the majority of some 100 remaining inhabitants chose to return to Chechnya, while the rest moved to other shelters in Ingushetia, in line with agreements on camp closures.

However, UNHCR staff and other monitors who maintained a steady presence in Sputnik camp in the last month reported that compared to the recent closure of Bart and Alina camps, there was a higher degree of pressure on the displaced Chechens to leave Sputnik camp, particularly in the later stages.

This included several complaints by the displaced people about aggressive and threatening behaviour by government officials, compared with only infrequent and isolated reports of intimidating behaviour in the previous two camp closures.

In addition, an explosion about 1 km from the camp last weekend – although claiming no fatalities – was interpreted as a form of pressure to leave. Electricity was also cut early on the last day of the camp, but restored in time for the actual camp closure.

UNHCR staff continue to systematically interview the returnees to verify the voluntary character of return and to confirm that they are aware of the possibility of receiving alternative shelter in temporary settlements in Ingushetia upon the closure of their camps. However, the agency is concerned that the recent relocation from Sputnik camp may have depleted the number of alternative shelters available.

Meanwhile, returns to Chechnya appear to be increasing. In March, 4,881 Chechens were reported to have gone back in movements organised by the Chechen Forced Migrant Committee, while another 212 were reported to have returned on their own.

UNHCR believes that this may be the result of the authorities' decision to give Chechens in the tented camps documents showing their eligibility for compensation for ruined houses and lost property in Chechnya.

The closure of Sputnik camp leaves just one camp, Satsita, in Ingushetia. According to the Danish Refugee Council, as of March 31, there were more than 60,000 Chechens registered for assistance in Ingushetia, down from the peak of 200,000 in 1999. Of these, more than 24,000 are living in temporary settlements and more than 33,000 in private accommodation.

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Ingushetia: Internally Displaced Chechens

When fighting broke out between government troops and rebel forces in Chechnya in 1999, over 200,000 people fled the republic, most of them to the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia. Today, tens of thousands of Chechens remain displaced in Ingushetia, unwilling to go home because of continuing security concerns.

As of early December 2003, some 62,000 displaced Chechens were living in temporary settlements or in private accommodation. Those living in settlements face constant threats of eviction, often by owners who wish to use their buildings again.

Another 7,900 displaced Chechens live in tents in three remaining camps – Satsita, Sputnik, and Bart.

The authorities have repeatedly called for the closure of tent camps and the return of the displaced people to Chechnya. Three camps have been closed in the past year – Iman camp at Aki Yurt, "Bella" or B camp, and "Alina" or A camp. Chechens from the latter two camps who did not wish to go home were allowed to move to Satsita camp or other existing temporary settlements in Ingushetia.

Ingushetia: Internally Displaced Chechens

Displacement in Georgia

Tens of thousands of civilians are living in precarious conditions, having been driven from their homes by the crisis in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

On the morning of August 12, the first UNHCR-chartered plane carrying emergency aid arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the first UN assistance to arrive in the country since fighting broke out the previous week. The airlift brought in 34 tonnes of tents, jerry cans, blankets and kitchen sets from UNHCR's central emergency stockpile in Dubai. Items were then loaded onto trucks at the Tbilisi airport for transport and distribution.

A second UNHCR flight landed in Tbilisi on August 14, with a third one expected to arrive the following day. In addition, two UNHCR aid flights are scheduled to leave for Vladikavkaz in the Russian Federation the following week with mattresses, water tanks and other supplies for displaced South Ossetians.

Working with local partners, UNHCR is now providing assistance to the most vulnerable and needy. These include many young children and family members separated from one another. The situation is evolving rapidly and the refugee agency is monitoring the needs of the newly displaced population, which numbered some 115,000 on August 14.

Posted on 15 August 2008

Displacement in Georgia

The makeshift camp at Patras

Thousands of irregular migrants, some of whom are asylum-seekers and refugees, have sought shelter in a squalid, makeshift camp close to the Greek port of Patras since it opened 13 years ago. The camp consisted of shelters constructed from cardboard and wood and housed hundreds of people when it was closed by the Greek government in July 2009. UNHCR had long maintained that it did not provide appropriate accommodation for asylum-seekers and refugees. The agency had been urging the government to find an alternative and put a stronger asylum system in place to provide appropriate asylum reception facilities for the stream of irregular migrants arriving in Greece each year.The government used bulldozers to clear the camp, which was destroyed by a fire shortly afterwards. All the camp residents had earlier been moved and there were no casualties. Photographer Zalmaï, a former refugee from Afghanistan, visited the camp earlier in the year.