Russia: Treatment of the Ossetians in Russia and state protection available to them
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RUS29254.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Russia: Treatment of the Ossetians in Russia and state protection available to them, 1 April 1998, RUS29254.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac2844.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Little information on the situation of Ossetians in Russia could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
However, according to a 1997 Human Rights Watch report, most of the approximately 9,000 Ossetians who were forced to flee the Prigorodnyi Region in North Ossetia, Russia, following the October 1992 intense ethnic fighting between ethnic Ingush and Ossetians, have subsequently returned to the region.
The report also states that:
In October 1992, intense fighting broke out between ethnic Ingush and Ossetians over control of the Prigorodnyi region of North Ossetia, a Russian Federation republic in the Caucasus Mountains. As a result of the short-lived hostilities, hundreds of civilians were killed, thousands taken hostage, thousands of homes (mostly belonging to Ingush) destroyed, and tens of thousands of residents displaced.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1997 states that " although most Ossetians have returned, a large number of Ingush remained displaced at year's end."
With regard to the Ossetian refugees from Southern Ossetia in Georgia, a 1996 Human Rights Watch report states that:
As a result of a war in the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (A.O.), which is part of Georgia, thousands of South Ossetian refugees were forced out of their homes in both the South Ossetian A.O. and in Georgia proper and fled to North Ossetia. There some of them played a significant role in both the tension that led to the fighting, in the fighting itself, and in the destruction that followed. These ethnic Ossetian refugeesmany of whom settled in the Prigorodnyi regioncreated new economic and demographic problems for an already creaking social infrastructure in the North Ossetian ASSR and competed with Ingush for jobs.[...] As of mid-1994, [...],168 Ossetian refugees lived in North Ossetia, most from Georgia. Of these, 16,000 lived in Prigorodnyi.56 South Ossetian militias played a significant role in the wanton destruction of Ingush homes after open hostilities ended on November 5, 1992.
However, after they secured control of the Prigorodnyi region, Russian forces allowed North Ossetian Interior Ministry troops and North Ossetian paramilitariesover whom they supposedly had control through a state of emergency decreeas well as South Ossetian militias, to conduct wide-scale looting and destruction of houses and communal dwellings. Russian forces have also been lax in punishing and bringing to justice Ingush and North Ossetian armed extremists who have preyed on the civilian population of the opposing ethnic group.
The 1997 Human Rights Watch Report states also that as of February 1997 the territorial and ethnic conflict had not been resolved and that "hostage-taking, shootings and attacks on life and property continue, making it impossible for displaced persons to return in safety."
A 17 December 1997 article published in The Christian Science Monitor states that, to that date, "there has been little relaxation of ethnic hatred in the past five years. Nor has there been any real progress in healing political relations between Ingushetia and North Ossetia."
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
The Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 17 December 1997. "A Game of Musical Chairs That No One Wins." (NEXIS)
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. February 1997. Vol. 9, No. 3 (D). Russian Federation - A Review of the Compliance of the Russian Federation with Council of Europe Commitments and Other Human Rights Obligations on the First Anniversary of its Accession to the Council of Europe. New York: Human Rights Watch. (REFWORLD)
_____.May 1996. The Ingush-Ossetian Conflict in the Prigorodnyi Region. New York: Human Rights Watch. (REFWORLD)
U.S. Committee For Refugees. 1997. World Refugee Survey 1997. Washington, DC: Immigration and Refugee Services of America. (REFWORLD)
Additional Sources Consulted
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 1997. 1998.
Electronic Sources: IRB databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, FBIS. From 1994 to 1998.
