Chechnya: move to winterised camp

Later this week the first 4,000 displaced Chechens are expected to move to a new tented camp located next to the Severny train carriage settlement in Ingushetia. The camp was erected jointly by UNHCR and the Ingush chapter of Russia's EMERCOM relief organization. It will eventually accommodate a total of 12,000 persons. The first part of the camp will hold up to 200 large family size tents (housing up to 20 persons each). The tents are equipped with a wooden floor, gas and electricity.

Meanwhile, the Ingush government is trying to ensure that some of the makeshift settlements, where large numbers of people still reside, are also winterized. UNHCR has already contracted the International Rescue Committee to do renovation work in some 55 spontaneous settlements. EMERCOM and various international NGOs are involved in the rehabilitation too.

Since September of 1999, UNHCR has delivered 108 convoys with humanitarian assistance to the Northern Caucasus - 83 to Ingushetia, 10 to Dagestan, 9 to Chechnya, 3 to Karachay-Cherkessia, 2 to North Ossetia and one to the Kuskay district of the Stavropol country.