Lubbers calls for new Chechen policy

Refugee camps have very poor sanitation

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ruud Lubbers, has urged Russia to reduce its military presence in the war-torn republic by using more Chechen officers police in their place.

He said the move would encourage the return of thousands of Chechen refugees.

In Russia the death penalty is suspended, but federal forces... are shooting hundreds and hundreds of innocent Chechens

Chechen refugee

"We hope real solutions will come that mean people can go home. They are too scared," he said after the talks with Russian Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov in Moscow.

He said that such measures, "along with the reduction of the number of check points on the roads", would help build confidence among the population.

"I am not saying it is possible to go entirely without [a federal military presence]. This has to be a gradual process," he added.

He also urged Russia to increase humanitarian aid to the region.

Mr Lubbers has been holding a series of talks with senior Russian officials after visiting Chechen refugee camps in the Russian republic of Ingushetia, where he heard first-hand accounts of suffering and abuse.

On Wednesday, refugees shown on Russian television meeting Mr Lubbers said human rights abuses had forced them to flee.

Refugees say there is a chronic shortage of food

"In Russia the death penalty is suspended, but federal forces without trial or investigations are shooting hundreds and hundreds of innocent Chechens," said one 45-year-old woman, Maret Magamadova, one of 5,000 people in Bella refugee camp.

Another woman wept as she told Mr Lubbers: "Here there is cold and hunger, I would gladly go home. Get them to stop the war and let us go home."

Many Chechens are spending their third winter in camps, after the Russian army launched its military operation in October 1999.

'Back on the map'

The war in Chechnya slipped down the international agenda following the 11 September attacks in the United States, analysts say.

Lubbers hopes to speed up political dialogue

UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said before the visit that one of the reasons for Mr Lubbers' trip was "to put Chechnya back on the map".

On Wednesday, Moscow hinted it was prepared to resume peace talks with separatist rebels on condition that they agree to disarm.

Western criticism of the Russian military campaign was toned down significantly after Moscow backed the US-led war on terror.

Russia has always defended its military campaign, insisting its troops are fighting "terrorists" in Chechnya.

'Unacceptable conditions'

However, recent sweep operations by Russian troops in Chechen villages have prompted renewed international concern.

Aid groups have urged Mr Lubbers to use his influence to improve the conditions for refugees.

"The plight of the displaced population lost the attention of the international community. Thousands of displaced Chechens live under unacceptable conditions in Ingushetia, and many more arrive on a daily basis," the aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said in its statement.

More than 150,000 Chechens have left their homes for neighbouring Ingushetia since the Russian army launched its latest military campaign in 1999.

Many of them live in abandoned cowsheds, schools and factories in poor hygienic conditions.

The UNHCR says that in addition to that, around 160,000 Chechens have been displaced inside Chechnya.