RFE/RL Russian Federation Report No. 29: excerpts
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Subject: RFE/RL Russian Federation Report No. 29: excerpts
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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report No. 29: excerpts
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report
Vol. 3, No. 29, 17 October 2001
A Survey of Developments in the Regions Outside Moscow Prepared by the
Staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
..................
FAR NORTH LEADERS WANT TO LIMIT MIGRATION FROM MUSLIM COUNTRIES...
Regional officials continue to call for tighter migration controls,
fearing an influx of refugees following U.S.-U.K. air strikes against
Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Russian Federation Report," 11 and 3 October
2001). The latest leaders to do so are Khanty-Mansii Autonomous Okrug
Governor Aleksandr Filipenko and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Governor Yurii Neelov, who have called for limiting the entry into
Tyumen Oblast of not just Afghans but "representatives of Muslim
populations," "Vremya novostei" reported on 12 October. Interior
ministry representatives in Tyumen Oblast announced on 11 October that
around 80 percent of the citizens from Central Asia who arrive in the
region do not return to their homeland. And "in connection with this,"
according to the daily, Petr Latyshev, presidential envoy to the Ural
federal district ordered that security measures be increased around
all important facilities in the district, and chief federal inspector
to Tyumen Oblast Sergei Smetanyuk proposed creating an information
center, where all those persons arriving from Central Asian and
Caucasus CIS states would be concentrated. Tyumen police officials
also reported that they recently arrested a group of people engaged in
smuggling Afghans into the region, and that hundreds if not thousands
of Afghan refugees have entered the oblast illegally. JAC
..................
MEDIA LEFT GUESSING ABOUT ATTITUDE OF SHAIMIEV, RAKHIMOV TOWARD AFGHAN
CONFLICT... Neither Tatarstan's President Mintimer Shaimiev nor
Bashkortostan's President Murtaza Rakhimov have commented publicly on
the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Afghanistan, "Nezavisimaya
gazeta" reported on 11 October, and the daily concluded that their
silence may indicate "at least ambivalence within Russia about the
latest developments." Meanwhile, the religious leaders in their
regions are not refraining from comments. Mikaddas Bibarsov, chairman
of the Volga Muslim Religious Board, has remarked, "The U.S., the
global policeman, and its allies are reshaping the world and killing
civilians - using the slogan of combating terrorism as a pretext,"
according to the daily. And Tatarstan's Muslim Religious Board noted
that bin Laden and the Taliban "emerged with the help of the U.S. and
Pakistan special services," and that the bombing "only contributes to
the civil war in Afghanistan," RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported.
Meanwhile, NTV reported on 12 October that "25 fighters for religious
causes in Naberezhnye Chelny have applied to the local branch of the
Tatar Public Center asking to be sent to Taliban positions." JAC
..................
TATARSTAN
TATAR NATIONALIST GROUPS ISSUE NEW CALL FOR INDEPENDENCE. More than
2,000 people gathered in Kazan on 14 October to mourn those who
defended the city against Ivan the Terrible in 1552, RFE/RL's Kazan
bureau reported on 15 October. Some participants burned likenesses of
the Russian state symbol as well as historical maps. Leaders of
moderate nationalist groups also made speeches, decrying Moscow's
"mistaken policies toward ethnic groups within Russia" and growing
federal government pressure on Tatar legislators. According to the
bureau, demonstrators also called on Tatarstan's government and the
federal government to "adopt an act on Tatarstan's full independence
and create an Idel-Ural confederation, reject Russian passports and
introduce [Tatarstan's] own, and [transfer] law enforcement and
military bodies [to] local authorities." According to "Izvestiya" on
15 October, there were also calls to form a people's front and
"liquidate 'colonial vertical Russian power.'" JAC
..................
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Copyright (c) 2001. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
"RFE/RL Russian Federation Report" is prepared by Julie A. Corwin
(JAC) on the basis of a variety of sources, including reporting by
"RFE/RL Newsline" and RFE/RL's broadcast services. Regular
contributors are Liz Fuller (LF), and Paul Goble (PG). It is
distributed every Wednesday.
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