Ingush refugees to return to North Osetiya

Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 12:34:02 +0200 (EET)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: Ingush refugees to return to North Osetiya

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Felix Corley <[email protected]>

Ingush refugees to return to North Osetiya


EWI Russian Regional Report
Vol. 4, No. 8, 04 March 1999
 
INGUSH REFUGEES TO RETURN TO NORTH OSETIYA. By December 1999 all
Ingush refugees should return to their former homes in the Prigorodnyi
Raion of North Osetiya, according to an agreement signed in Magas by
the prime ministers of the two republics. The latest agreement
solidifies an agreement signed in January by Ingushetiya President
Ruslan Aushev and North Osetiya President Aleksandr Dzasokhov. Aushev
said that the agreement guarantees the refugees their choice of
housing (either returning to their apartment or obtaining a plot of
land in a region inhabited by ethnic Ingush), security, credits to
build or repair their dwelling, and the aid of local authorities in
supplying gas, water, and heat. Moscow must now provide enough money
to make the agreement work.     

It is not clear how many refugees are affected. The Ingush say that
20,000 will return, but the Osetiyans believe that this number is
greatly exaggerated (Kommersant Daily, 27 February).
 
In 1944 Stalin deported the Ingush to Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and
Siberia, claiming they had conspired with the Germans during World War
II. At that time, the Soviet government granted North Osetiya control
over the Prigorodnyi raion, which had formerly been Ingush territory.
In 1957 Khrushchev allowed the deported peoples to return to the North
Caucasus, but did not return the Prigorodnyi raion to the Ingush.
Armed conflict between the two ethnic groups ensued, climaxing in the
1990s when Ingushetiya separated from Chechnya and demanded the return
of its former territory. In a week of extraordinary violence in
October 1992, over 600 people were killed and thousands of homes
destroyed. As a result, between 34,000-64,000 ethnic Ingush fled the
region for Ingushetiya.
 
***************************************************
 
Copyright (c) 1999 EastWest Institute
All rights reserved. ISSN 1211-1570
 
Please send all comments and inquiries to [email protected] or to
EastWest Institute, 700 Broadway, New York, NY  10003, USA;
ph (212) 824-4100, fx (212) 824-4149.

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================