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In 1995, 100,000 people were reported to have left Chechnya for Dagestan, 168 160,000 for Ingushetia, 169 and 50,000 for Krasnodar Krai. 170 Over 10,000 refugees were also officially registered in Kabardino-Balkaria. 171 Although a number of these wartime refugees have already begun to return to Chechnya (including 33,000 from Dagestan, 172 and 80,000 from Ingushetia), many more have yet to be registered with the authorities. In general, therefore, the available figures do not reflect the true dimensions of the refugee problem created by the war in Chechnya. The Regional and International Response to the Refugee Crisis: The scale of the refugee problem in the North Caucasus is indicated by the fact that many local governments have taken measures to combat migration. For example, the Parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria specifically set up a Migratory Committee in the fall of 1994 to control the flow of refugees into the republic and passed additional measures on migration in May 1995. 173 In addition, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also created an office in Vladikavkaz in March 1995 with a Coordinator to cover those North Caucasian republics hardest hit by the general refugee crisis and the influx of refugees from the war in Chechnya––North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Dagestan. The UNHCR plans to coordinate the activities of federal and local agencies and international organizations in the region. 174 168 Press conference on April 28, 1995 with Yuri Vasilyevich Roshchin, First Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Migration Service. Official Kremlin International News Broadcast, April 28, 1995. 169 According to Vice-President Boris Agapov of the Ingush Republic, as cited in the BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, July 10, 1995. 170 See “‘Russia is our Home’ opens branch in Krasnodar” in Segodnya, June 7, 1995. The majority of the 150,000 ethnic Russians that left Chechnya in 1992-1993 also sought refuge in Krasnodar and Stavropol’. In addition, several hundred thousand refugees from other areas of the former Soviet Union have resettled in Krasnodar and Stavropol’ Krais because of the favorable climate and high agricultural productivity of the territories. 171 TASS, July 2, 1995. 172 TASS, July 28, 1995. 173 CMG Bulletin, June 1995 p.44. 174 CMG Bulletin, June 1995, p.51. 90
APPENDIX 2 The Islamic Factor in the North Caucasus In spite of increasing ethnic Russian fears about the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in the North Caucasus and the formation of a single Islamic bloc across all the Muslim republics, there have been no serious studies of the Islamic revival in the region since the collapse of the USSR. A few general observations can, however, be made on the basis of Dr. Magomedkhanov’s research on the issue since 1991. His research suggests that these fears are greatly exaggerated. 175 Russian fears about Islamic Fundamentalism are the result of a confluence of internal and external factors: • The increasing identification of the Russian state with the Russian Orthodox Church. • The long-term anxiety generated by the Iranian Islamic revolution and its seeming export to other Middle-Eastern and North African countries. • The political influence of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Iran in the former Soviet Union. 176 Beginning with the promulgation of a law in 1990 on the official celebration of the Russian Orthodox Christmas across the entire Russian Federation, the Russian government has moved away from the secularism of the Soviet period toward sponsorship of Russian Orthodoxy as the state religion. Frequent meetings between President Yeltsin and leaders of the Church have consolidated this relationship, and Russian nationalist parties now invoke the old Tsarist mantra of Russian nationalism and Orthodoxy. The elevation of the Russian Orthodox Church has squeezed out other Russian confessions, of which Islam is the most important. A total of about 12 million Muslims live in the Russian Federation as a whole, which is equivalent to 4% of Russia’s population. Of these, approximately 4 million live in the North Caucasus, where they account for 25% of the total population of the region, including the Russian krais. 177 The fact that the majority of the Muslim population of the former Soviet Union––including the population of the Central Asian republics––is concentrated on the southern border with Turkey, 175 See, for example, Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov, “The Revival of Islam and Islamic Publishing,” Demokratizatsiya, Vol. II No.3, 1994, pp.493-497. 176 See also Vasil’eva and Muzaev, p.27. In this regard, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been prominent in assisting local Muslims in the construction of religious infra-structure, the development of scriptural Islam, and the provision of scholarships for study abroad. 177 This figure is based on the total number of the traditionally Muslim peoples of the Russian Federation in the 1989 census. Figures for those who actually identify themselves as practicing Muslims are not presently available. 91
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“RUSSIA’S TINDERBOX” Conflict
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PREFACE Background to the Report In
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“RUSSIA’S TINDERBOX” Conflict
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and dependent on subsidies from the
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• Cleavages between Orthodoxy and
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The Administra
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3. The failure of Russian policy: S
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SECTION I The Structural Legacy of
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Supreme Soviet and a Presidium of t
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Tenglik went so as far as to blocka
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The Soviet government of the Russia
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From 1991, the question of whether
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Russia, announced the formation of
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as a mediator in inter-ethnic confl
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After 1991, Abkhazia’s role as th
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members of the KNK all have a diffe
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SECTION III The Failure of Russia
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absolving the Ministry for National
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This activity has raised expectatio
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1. Yeltsin’s March 1991 Visit to
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The first report recommended that,
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In response to the refusal of the K
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SECTION IV Territorial Disputes in
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inflammatory rhetoric, others have
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government, the expectation was tha
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2. The secession of Chechnya from R
Page 53 and 54: epeated ultimatums to the Ingush to
Page 55 and 56: The refugee issue and the status of
Page 57 and 58: Government interventions have been
Page 59 and 60: Another territorial dispute in Dage
Page 61 and 62: To protect their group rights in th
Page 63 and 64: 1991 the referendum on statehood wa
Page 65 and 66: a dual Cherkess-Abazin federal repu
Page 67 and 68: The Krai’s ethnic composition is,
Page 69 and 70: Other Circassian peoples and the KN
Page 71 and 72: The Revival of the Cossacks in the
Page 73 and 74: the region. These meetings and of i
Page 75 and 76: The Cossacks are now perceived by t
Page 77 and 78: in Kazakhstan. The 1991 Law on the
Page 79 and 80: Chechnya was operating; 122 and a h
Page 81 and 82: As modern civil society ceased to f
Page 83 and 84: emergency session of the Checheno-I
Page 85 and 86: Soviet weaponry, including tanks an
Page 87 and 88: consisted of the most radical facti
Page 89 and 90: In 1992-1993, the opposition’s re
Page 91 and 92: In the North Caucasian republics, t
Page 93 and 94: Moscow. Since Budennovsk, the knowl
Page 95 and 96: The War in Chechnya and Implication
Page 97 and 98: Conclusion As the discussion in the
Page 99 and 100: APPENDIX 1 The Refugee crisis in th
Page 101 and 102: was reversed in the late 1980s. 162
Page 103: and the already high levels of unem
Page 107 and 108: incorporating their principle figur
Page 109 and 110: Since the war in Chechnya, and give
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