Saturday, August 2, 2014

Window on Eurasia: Russian Refugees from Ukraine in Daghestan Don’t Want to Stay There


Paul Goble

 

            Staunton, August 2 – Moscow is channeling Russian refugees from Ukraine to places like Daghestan where many of them are unhappy with conditions and are now demanding that they be allowed to move to areas “closer to their motherland,” an indication that the Russian government’s resettlement policies may be on the verge of backfiring.

 

            Yesterday, Saida Vagabova of the “Chernovik” weekly reported that there are currently 408 refugees from Ukraine being housed in that North Caucasus republic and that Makhachkala is slated to take in another 180 Ukrainian citizens during August (chernovik.net/content/respublika/chto-delat-s-bezhencami-iz-ukrainy).

 

            Neither side is entirely happy. As Vagabova reports, “not all krays and oblsts are prepared to receive new guests,” and not all the refugees who are being sent to one or another region inside Russia are happy about where they are being offered refuge -- with some complaining about the climate, others about the facilities, and still others about their treatment.

 

            In one refugee facility in Daghestan, the journalist reports, 50 of the roughly 70 Ukrainian citizens want to leave that North Caucasus republic and move to somewhere closer to where they came from.  They are especially angry that they are restricted in their movements and prevented from seeking work.

 

             But local officials also complain that Moscow sends more Ukrainian citizens than it has said it will and expects local officials to come up with a great deal of the money necessary to house them. Until July 22, Vagabova says, Moscow provided only 200 rubles (six US dollars) per refugee per day. Then it boosted that figure to 800 (23 US dollars), more but still less than the 1000 to 1200 rubles (30-36 US dollars) republic officials say each costs every day.

 

 

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