ONE MONTH LEFT FOR REFUGEES IN INGUSHETIA.

At a meeting of the pro-Moscow government of Chechnya on May 24, a decision was reached to return all Chechen refugees from Ingushetia to Chechnya before the end of June. The following day, Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the pro-Moscow Chechen administration, clarified this decision: All the refugees, he said, would be returned “before the [first] frosts.” The human rights organization “Memorial” has calculated that there at least 175,000 Chechen refugees living in Ingushetia (Lenta.ru, May 24; Russian agencies, May 25).

On May 22, the European Union announced that it had released an additional 14.5 million euros (US$12.76 million) in aid to Chechen displaced persons. The EU is providing food and other aid to an estimated 250,000 persons living in Chechnya itself, to 150,000-170,000 in Ingushetia, and to 20,000 in Dagestan. Since October of 1999, the EU has donated more than 41 million euros in aid to Chechen displaced persons (RIA Novosti, May 22; AP, May 24).