EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/239

(2004/C 78 E/0241)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3198/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(30 October 2003)

Subject: Further camp closures and expulsions of refugees in Ingushetia

According to ‘Médecins sans frontières’, another camp was emptied in Ingushetia on 1 October, a few days after the elections in Chechnya. MSF also reports that the 168 last remaining families in the camp were luckier than the others because they were rehoused in tents provided by the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR) in a neighbouring camp. Such alternative facilities were not provided for families expelled from the same camp before September, nor for those living in other camps and increasingly threatened with expulsion. MSF considers that this is an exception to the forced repatriation policy which continues to be the rule for Chechen refugees in Ingushetia. According to a survey conducted by MSF among all the refugees accommodated in tent camps in Ingushetia and published last spring, 90 % did not wish to return to Chechnya, where abductions, murders, torture and cleansing operations are daily occurrences.

Is the Commission aware of these latest forced expulsions of Chechen refugees from the camps in Ingushetia? What was its response to this blatant violation by the Russian authorities of the relevant international conventions and of their undertakings vis-à-vis the international community in general and the European Union in particular? How long is the Commission prepared to tolerate the Russian authorities' disregard for and violation of international law and their own undertakings?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(5 December 2003)

The Commission is closely following recent developments in Chechnya.

The Commission supports a political solution to the conflict, which respects Russia's territorial integrity, as well as all genuine efforts to bring about a lasting peace. The Commission had hoped that the constitutional referendum in March 2003 would lead to a peaceful, political settlement to the conflict by providing a platform for genuine dialogue, the restoration of the rule of law and the protection of human rights. As part of this settlement, it was in its view essential that the population of Chechnya recognise the legitimacy of the Presidential elections held on 5 October 2003. However, the conduct of the elections raised many questions regarding, amongst others, due process and access to the media.

The Commission is aware of disturbing reports of continuing human rights violations in Chechnya and of the closure of camps for internally displaced persons in Ingushetia. The authorities, by closing down these camps without authorising the international community, and primarily the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), to build decent alternative shelter for those who want to stay, leave internally displaced persons no option but to return to Chechnya. This, despite the fact that the security situation in Chechnya has, if anything, deteriorated since the constitutional referendum in March 2003 and Presidential elections in October 2003 and notwithstanding the poor humanitarian situation in Chechnya. It is all the more regrettable, then, that Russia has not responded in any concrete way to repeated requests by the Commission to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid, by authorising the construction of alternative shelter in Ingushetia, by providing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with access to United Nations very high frequency (VHF) communications, by ensuring security for aid workers and by allowing ECHO to open an office in Nazran, Ingushetia.

These concerns were raised by the Commission at the Union/Russia Summit on 6 November 2003. The Commission will continue to use Union/Russia political dialogue meetings to call on the Russian authorities to improve all aspects of the situation in Chechnya.