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Second U.N. convoy goes into Chechnya |
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April 26, 2000 GENEVA, APR 25 (AP) - United Nations relief agencies said Tuesday they were sending a convoy carrying aid supplies into the devastated Russian province of Chechnya - only the second convoy to go into the area.
Seventeen trucks were due to enter Chechnya on Tuesday after spending the night in North Ossetia, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. He said their exact destination would be decided after meetings with Russian aid officials.
The convoy is carrying 56 tons of wheat flour, more than 10,000 tins of canned beef, as well as millet, pearl barley, vegetable oil, soap, kitchen sets and plastic sheets. The total cost of the shipment is dlrs 157,000.
The first convoy of aid went to the Chechen capital, Grozny, at the end of February, but no aid has been sent since then because of the unstable security situation.
Redmond said a decision on whether to continue the convoys would depend on the report of a U.N. assessment team that left Chechnya on Monday night.
"The expectations are that we will be continuing convoys," he said.
UNHCR said there were still an estimated 200,000 refugees from Chechnya in neighboring republics, most of them in Ingushetia.
"Many of these people express a strong desire to return home, but need help to get started. According to UNHCR monitors, who interview people at the Chechnya-Ingushetia crossing, many people in Chechnya are short of food," said Redmond.
"Despite the hardships and destruction, an average of 250-300 people return to Chechnya every day from Ingushetia. The announced completion of mine clearance in Grozny is expected to increase the number of returnees to the devastated city and its outskirts."
Redmond said families often left adult males in Ingushetia over fears that Russian authorities were detaining young men.
"Another problem is the lack of identification and other documents which were burned or lost," he said.
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