UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbour has voiced concern about the squalid conditions of Chechen refugees in the North Caucasus region of Russia.
She visited a tented camp in Ingushetia, to where tens of thousands of refugees have fled to escape the conflict in neighbouring Chechnya.
She described them as living for a long time in "exceptional poverty", Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Ms Arbour is due to meet Chechen officials in Grozny on Tuesday.
She will discuss the human rights situation in Chechnya, where abuses - by both the Russian army and groups fighting it - are widespread.
Her visit is part of a week-long tour of Russia.
'Forcible repatriation'
Moscow is known to be reluctant to discuss its actions in Chechnya, insisting it is an internal conflict fuelled by terror groups.
But Ms Arbour is expected to raise the issue when she holds talks with President Vladimir Putin later in the week.
Human rights groups claim Moscow has been forcibly repatriating Chechen refugees from the camps in Ingushetia in order to close them down.
The refugees also include ethnic Ingush, who escaped a conflict in nearby North Ossetia.
"When I met these people today, I was stunned by their misery," RIA Novosti quoted Ms Arbour as saying after visiting the camp.
"Despite obvious efforts by the republic and international organisations, these people live in exceptional poverty and have been living like that for a long time."
She also met local human rights activists and victims of human rights abuses and their relatives. They told her of extrajudicial reprisals, kidnappings and the illegal detention of citizens.
There are currently 50,000 Chechen refugees in Ingushetia, the republic's President, Murat Zyazikov, told Ms Arbour. Some are in temporary camps while others are in private homes.
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©