Refugees in Ingushetia. Reinstatement to the List. Only through Court?
07.05.2004
Internally displaced persons are running from the war and terror in Chechnya to Ingushetia, continually facing forceful suppression with the goal of returning the refugees back to Chechnya. This suppression turned particularly cynical and rough in 2003-2004. Mass episodes of arbitrarily removing internally displaced persons from the lists of the Department of Migration of Ingushetia's Ministry of Internal Affairs have become one of type of suppression (further according to the texts from Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia). Facts of this type of arbitrariness by officials became one of the main complaints, which were presented at the Human Rights Center Memorial's law offices in Nazran'. The law offices presented more than 150 statements in court, presented the interests of those who had given the statements in court, and in a few cases they already had favorable results.
Turning attention to people's congregation points, one can basically subdivide them into the following three groups:
Internally displaced persons who are living in tent camps:
the tent camp “Satsita”: 39 statements (260 people). Of these the decision for reinstatement is being carried out for eight complaints (60 people).
Internally displaced persons, who are living in compact communities:
“Novaya Podstantsiya” Community- 62 statements (around 400 people)(took place in preliminary hearing);
“Ptitsefabrika” Community- 10 statements (93 people);
“MTF 1, 2” Trinity Communities- 40 statements (more than 200 people).
Internally displaced persons, who are living in the private sector:
8 statements (8 families have been reinstated).
All of these cases are the same. Spring 2002 the distribution of governmental humanitarian help was resumed (stipulated by resolutions of the Russian Federation government No. 163 from March 3, 2001, in accordance with the distribution of food stuffs to the sum of 15 rubles per person per day (for the internally displaced persons living in tent camps and in compact communities) and half loaves of bread per person (for the internally displaced persons living in the private sector). Those who had appealed were denied the right to receive food stuffs because their names were not on the lists. It was completely unexpected for them when the people found out that even though they were living in Ingushetia, and they had already returned to the Chechen Republic. The situation sometimes becomes absurd. For example, in bases they could leave underage children, exclude parents or vice versa.
Migration services who were dealing with this situation? promised to reinstate the people to the lists, but in reality they did nothing of the sort.
Despite this, people continued to trust the officials. During the liquidation of the tent camps “Bella” and “Alina” (Stantsia Ordzhonikidzevskaya), the residents of these camps agreed to move to the tent camp “Satsita” under the condition that they would be reinstated to the lists of the Republic of Ingushetia's Migration Services, from which they were earlier illegally and groundlessly excluded. On the statement they gave, the resolution “I Allow” by Deputy Minister Pomeshchenko I. the people moved from one camp to another, but not a single one of them were reinstated to the lists despite the documented promise.
Finally, having been tossed in despair and having lost faith in the government, the internally displaced persons appealed to the courts with the help the Human Rights Center Memorial's lawyers. Memorial, having received primary address to their case, prepares statements to the Russian Federation's Administration of Migration sector of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Ingushetia on behalf of those who gave the statements and from the Human Rights Center. The statements contains the request to confirm the presence of the indicated in the Chechen Republic's databases of internally displaced persons. In the case of their absence there, confirm the fact of exclusion from the lists, by what orders, when, who and on what foundations.
The statements prepared by lawyers are sent to the addressee at the Council for Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia. In the case that workers are refused to register, a registered letter with a notification will be sent out.
If Migration Services leave the statements unanswered (which happens most of the time), lawyers prepare statements of claim to regional courts of the inaction of governmental officials of the Russian Federation's Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia, expressing that the officials have not reinstated the names of the refugees to the database lists of the Russian Federation's Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia and have not given a justifiable answer to questions in the statements. This deprives the refugees who gave statements the opportunity to complain about unlawful actions of officials and to reestablish their own rights like the internally displaced persons from the Chechen Republic, stipulated at the same time as decision No. 163. In the statement of claims all circumstances and evidence pertaining to this issue are explained and are presented. (Certificate F-3 on the registration of residences where residents have tent cities in columns, the address is indicated, number of the row and tent, where owners live temporarily. In case one is a citizen of the tent camp Bella which was dismantled, they indicate the number of the tent and the row, and the term of registration.
In this case, if a person did not save their temporary registration, or the registration expired at the moment of giving a statement of claims, or a person actually living in the city cannot receive a certificate from the commander of the city, confirming that he and members of his family have been living from a certain time to present day in the tent camp in a certain row and tent. Before any of the old commanders had been replaced in the tent cities, these types of certificates were given out without problem to the inhabitants who had been living there but were not on the commander's list, registered in the database of the Russian Federation's Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia. Today these confirming certificates are not issued.
The commanders of “Bella” and “Alina” freely gave out copies of statements with the agreement to move to the tent city “Satsita,” if they promised to reinstate them and give them their deserved food stuffs (meaning, the governmental humanitarian help pertaining to the resolution of the Russian Federation No. 163), with the resolution of Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation's Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia Pomeshchenko allow the move to the tent city “Satsita.” Today these copies of statements, which are kept at the commander's offices in the tent camps, are not distributed to the refugees.
Except this, as confirmation of the refugees' residences at the tent camp, evidence of residents and neighbors, who have no problems with registering for a place to stay and with the status in the database list of the Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia is presented. In the case of necessity, they are invited to a court session to confirm the fact that the refugees who gave the statements and their families have been living in the tent camp.
If the refugees who gave statements have young children attending a general education school or school in the tent camp, a certificate is presented that their children are being instructed in school.
Registration cards are presented to the refugees by international, humanitarian organizations, who rendered assistance to internally displaced persons, who were located in Ingushetia (Danish Council, International Cross, Islamic Relief, etc.).
If the Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia give an answer with the confirmation of the exclusion of the refugees who had appealed to Memorial (as a rule, with justification, that the fall into the category?? of those who have returned? to their permanent place of residence in the Chechen Republic, the lawyers will gather evidence to point out that this is not true.
In the preliminary hearing directions of the process? present evidence and arguments for their positions, after the court studies the evidence and presents the verdict.
The court will render a favorable verdict if the refugees who gave a statement had registered in the period of the existing registration process in the Republic of Ingushetia (officially the time frame lasted from the end of the counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya, or more specifically fall 1999- April 2001), which elapsed at the temporary registration from the moment of his exclusion from the database of the Russian Federation's Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia.
In this case, if those that gave statements from the very beginning were not registered at Migration Services, or moved to the Chechen Republic after 2001 and lived in a tent camp without registration, having simply paid for the tent, and Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia admit materials in court confirming that these particular refugees were refused registration because they had left the Chechen Republic after the official end there of the counter-terrorist operation, the court will refuse the reinstatement to the list. There are few examples of this nature.
For those who were arbitrarily crossed off the list the situation has no out even if people decide to return to Chechnya. In Chechnya while attempting to take up residence in temporary accommodation centers, or in the private sector they should be registered with the Russian Federation's Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia. However, they were refused this although during the time of the move they were promised to be registered and admitted as residents.
It is necessary to mention the fact that Migration Services of the Republic of Ingushetia categorically refused to include in the lists of internally displaced persons' children who were born after 2001 in Ingushetia. Evidently, for those in Chechnya side by side with the temporary accommodation centers should be built homes for children, where they will be transferred without their parents.
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