13.08.2007 - Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (formerly Global IDP Project)

System of compensation for lost property and housing has not led to widespread reconstruction of private housing by IDPs in Chechnya; amounts are not enough to build or rebuild a house ("Government efforts help only some IDPs rebuild their lives; A profile of the internal displacement situation") [ID 21208]

"The system of compensation for lost property and housing has not led to widespread reconstruction of private housing by IDPs in Chechnya. People choosing to permanently reside in Chechnya are entitled to 350,000 roubles (approximately $13,700) for their loss of property and housing, while those settling outside Chechnya are entitled to 120,000 roubles (approximately $4,700). According to the federal government, some 39,000 people have received compensation (Government of Russian Federation, 5 April 2006). As inflation and the price of building materials continue to rise in the North Caucasus, these amounts are not enough to build or rebuild a house (Swisspeace, October 2006; The Independent, 6 March 2007). While some people have managed to buy an apartment with their compensation, others have rather put the money towards buying a car, a plot of land, construction materials, or towards daily living expenses. However, many IDPs have secured new housing thanks to assistance from international agencies."

Document(s): Open document

01.2007 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Kadyrov presses money from government employees in order to finance reconstruction; corruption is wide-spead; compensation payments hardly ever reach their destination to the full extent ("Nordkaukasus; Entwicklungen in Tschetschenien sowie in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkarien, Inguschetien und Nordossetien") [ID 18690]

"Der Wiederaufbau wird gemäss Angaben von MenschenrechtsaktivistInnen dadurch finanziert, dass Kadyrow von allen Bediensteten eine «freiwillige» Spende abpresst. Diese Gelder fliessen in den so genannten «Kadyrow-Fonds», aus dem wiederum der Aufbau von Schulen, Sportstätten und anderen öffentlichen Einrichtungen finanziert wird. Korruption ist in Tschetschenien nach wie vor allgegenwärtig. So gelangen die Kompensationszahlungen - jede Familie, die ihr Heim auf Grund der Kampfhandlungen verloren hat, kann 350'000 Rubel beanspruchen – praktisch nie in vollem Umfang an ihren Bestimmungsort. Erst im vergangenen November wurde der Sekretär des Kompensationskomitees der tschetschenischen Regierung wegen Korruption verhaftet. Er hatte die Geschädigten zu Zahlungen von bis zu 50 Prozent der vorgesehenen Kompensation gezwungen und ihre Bankkonti blockieren lassen, wenn sie Widerstand leisteten. Die Verantwortung für das entsprechende Komitee trägt letztlich Premierminister Ramsan Kadyrow, der für die Staatsanwaltschaft allerdings schwierig zu fassen ist."

Document(s): Open document

03.08.2006 - Source: Memorial Human Rights Center

Only 3,600 out of 39,000 IDPs living in Temporary accommodation points (TAPs) have applied for compensations; payments made slowly, people have to repay 30% to 50% of the compensation’s amount as bribe ("On the Situation of Residents of Chechnya in the Russian Federation (July 2005-July 2006)") [ID 17698]

"Out of the total number of IDPs living in TAPs on the territory of the Chechen Republic, i.e. of 39,000 people, only 3,600 persons have applied for compensations. Of them the housing of only 2,500 people has been put on the lists of destroyed property, which is a prerequisite to qualify for payment of the compensation. And only 977 families so far have received the com-pensation. To vacate space at TAPs families which receive the compensation are struck off the regis-ters for food allowances and are mandated to move out of TAPs within a short period of time. (...)

Resolution of the Government of the RF No.404 of July 4, 2003 set the amount of payment to be made in Chechnya in compensation for lost housing and property at 350,000 rubles (ap-proximately 10,000 Euros) per family per one completely destroyed structure. No compensatory payments are payable for housing which has been found restorable. Payments are made very slowly, with periodic interruptions for a long period of time. Besides, the CR leadership openly admits that people in Chechnya have to repay 30% to 50% of the compensation’s amount as a bribe to have it awarded, which is also noted in Mr. Gil-Robles’ report. All in all, 39,000 families have been paid compensations, which corresponds to 14 billion rubles allocated to these purposes in the federal budget."

Document(s): Russian-language report
English-language report

03.08.2006 - Source: Memorial Human Rights Center

Difference in compensations paid to those residing in Chechen Republic and those who decided to never return there is additional traumatizing factor ("On the Situation of Residents of Chechnya in the Russian Federation (July 2005-July 2006)") [ID 17766]

"The difference in compensations for lost housing and property paid to those residing in the Chechen Republic and those who decided to never return there has become an additional traumatizing factor for IDPs. Resolution of the Government of the RF No.510 of April 30, 1997 set the minimum amount of payments in compensation for lost housing at 120,000 rubles, which amounted before the 1998 default in Russia to approximately 20,000 US dollars. Today it is im-possible to buy housing for a family with that sum of money, which does not exceed 4 to 5 thousand dollars. According to Resolution of the Government of the RF No.404 of July 4, 2003, the amount of payment made in the Chechen Republic in compensation for completely destroyed housing stands at 300,000 rubles. Since the majority of those who have left Chechnya, never to return, are ethnic Russians, the issue is raised of discrimination of ethnic Russian citizens versus Chechens, which drives a wedge between the people who were once neighbors and creates conditions for a new confrontation. And it is forgotten in the process that between 1997 and 2003 no compensations at all were paid in Chechnya."

Document(s): Russian-language report
English-language report

06.04.2006 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Hundreds of Grozny residents remain homeless because of bureaucratic obstacles, although government entitled thousands of families whose homes were destroyed by war to claim compensation or have their homes rebuilt ("Chechens Cheated of New Homes") [#48477],  [ID 16901]

"The thousands of Chechen families whose homes were destroyed by war are officially entitled either to claim compensation or to have their homes rebuilt at the government’s expense, but two groups of Chechens are not being re-housed because of bureaucratic obstacles. The first category is former owners of homes that have been inhabited since 2000 by federal soldiers. The people in the second group are onetime residents of apartment blocks who decided to wait for their flats to be rebuilt rather than seek compensation, but now say the civilian authorities have failed to keep their promises to rehouse them. As a result, hundreds of Grozny residents are practically homeless, staying with friends or relatives, hoping that some day the government will take notice of their plight. Experts estimate that up to 85 per cent of homes in Grozny were destroyed, mainly by artillery and bombing in 1994-6 and 1999-2000. Only a small proportion has been restored. Compensation payments are paid out for 350,000 roubles (over 12,000 US dollars) but, even if they manage to surmount the bureaucratic obstacles needed to get the money, it is not enough, particularly for larger families, to buy a new property. Some 45,000 Chechens are yet to receive housing compensation. That is one reason why many hope to rebuild property on the land where their houses once stood."

Document(s): Open document

22.12.2005 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

According to Russia’s national audit office Chechen reconstruction programme consistently failing, large sums of money disappearing, corruption wide-spread ("Corruption Drive in Chechnya") [#40980],  [ID 16902]

"Figures describing the extent to which public funds are being misspent or simply stolen are naturally hard to come by, but a report by Russia’s national audit office which came out on December 16 suggested that the Chechen reconstruction programme was consistently failing. The chamber calculated that only 127 out of the 274 public and business buildings scheduled for reconstruction had been completed. And the problem did not lie in a lack of funding – only 3.5 billion out of the eight billion roubles Moscow allocated for reconstruction in Chechnya had actually been spent. The suggestion that large sums of money are disappearing from high-profile projects will come as no surprise to people in Chechnya, who see bribery and corruption taking place at every level – in Moscow as well as Grozny. “Money allocated for the reconstruction of Chechnya is simply being stolen,” said Ali Dakayev, who works for a non-government organisation in Chechnya. “First in Moscow, then here. There is a whole system of kickbacks and percentage cuts being taken and other fraudulent practices that are employed by top federal [Russian] and local [Chechen] officials. “Bribe-taking and open extortion have reached a terrifying scale, and the most terrible thing is that the public has somehow just grown accustomed to it.”"

Document(s): Open document

07.11.2005 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Part of returnees received compensation, but returnees had to bribe authorities with 30 - 50 percent of the amount of compensation ("Tschetschenien: Update: Entwicklungen in Tschetschenien, Inguschetien, Dagestan und anderen Teilen der Russischen Föderation") [#38928],  [ID 16903]

"Von den Flüchtlingen, die in den vergangenen Jahren nach Tschetschenien zurückgekehrt sind, haben nur sehr wenige ihr ursprüngliches Haus in einem noch bewohnbaren Zustand vorgefunden. 120'000 Rubel (rund 3'500 Euro) hat die Russische Regierung TschetschenInnen, die aus andern Republiken zurückkehrten, als Entschädigung für den Verlust ihres Eigentums versprochen.62 Wer sein Heim verloren hat, aber in Tschetschenien geblieben ist, dem sollen gar 350'000 Rubel (10'000 Euro) versprochen worden sein.63 Diese Entschädigungen sind in den vergangenen Monaten gemäss verschiedenen Berichten einem Teil der RückkehrerInnen tatsächlich ausbezahlt worden. Allerdings mussten die EmpfängerInnen verschiedene Behörden mit zwischen 30 und 50 Prozent des Betrages bestechen64, um den Rest zu erhalten. Wohnraum lässt sich für die geringe Summe der Kompensationszahlungen nicht erwerben.65 Folglich werden diese für den Kauf von Lebensmitteln und Miete ausgegeben. Angesichts der hohen Mieten reichen die Kompensationszahlungen nicht länger als ein Jahr.66 Weil das Kompensationsprogramm offensichtlich im Sumpf von Korruption und Vetternwirtschaft völlig zu ersticken drohte, wurde es zudem schon mehrmals temporär suspendiert.67"

Document(s): Open document

09.06.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Chechnya: thousands of Chechens who have returned home from Ingushetia have not received promised housing compensation ("Grozny Returnees Remain Penniless") [#23204],  [ID 16904]

Document(s): Open document

24.05.2004 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Until April 2004, only 1,500 families received compensation; 55,000 compensation applications have been submitted so far ("Tschetschenien und die tschetschenische Bevölkerung in der Russischen Föderation ") [#23046],  [ID 16905]

"Binnenflüchtlingen in Inguschetien aber auch in Tver' wird mit dem erwähnten Zuckerbrot der Entschädigung die Rückkehr nach Tschetschenien schmackhaft gemacht. Allerdings erhalten gemäss Swetlana Gannuschkina, auf Grund der restriktiven Auslegung der entsprechenden Vorschriften, nur rund ein Drittel der Vertriebenen eine Bestätigung der Kompensationsberechtigung.110 Viele der RückkehrerInnen erhalten bei ihrer Ankunft in Grosny schliesslich doch keine Entschädigung, weil die Behörden sich weigern, ihre Dokumente zu bearbeiten oder weil ihre Namen auf mysteriöse Weise von den Listen der Berechtigten verschwunden sind.111 Bis im April 2004 haben erst rund 1500 Familien Entschädigungszahlungen erhalten, während noch 55'000 Anträge vorliegen. Auch wer schliesslich eine Entschädigung erhält, muss auf rund 50 Prozent des ihm zustehenden Betrages verzichten. Der russische Migrationsdienst gibt, gemäss Gannuschkina, offen zu, dass von den Entschädigungszahlungen rund 15 Prozent nach Moskau, 15 Prozent an die lokalen Behörden, zehn Prozent an die zuständige Bank und ein gewisser Prozentsatz noch an den Migrationsdienst selbst gehen. Ein Familienvater erhält also im Idealfall noch rund 150'000 Rubel (= 7300 SFr.) als Entschädigung bzw. Starthilfe. Um ein Haus zu bauen, muss er mit diesem Geld als erstes Baumaterialien kaufen. Doch der entsprechende Markt ist in Tschetschenien korrupt, was zu teils exorbitanten Preisen führt. Abgesehen davon ist jeder, der eine gewisse Summe Geld besitzt, sofort in einer lebensgefährlichen Situation.112"

Document(s): Open document

07.08.2003 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Chechnya: Information Note on the Decree #404 of the Russian Federation Government on Compensations for the Victims of the Conflict in the Chechen Republic ("Information Note on the Decree of the Russian Federation Government on Compensations for the Victims of the Conflict in the Chechen Republic") [#23011],  [ID 16907]

Document(s): Open document