UNHCR FACES FUNDING CRISIS IN CAUCASUS REGION

7 June 1996

Press Release
REF/1146

UNHCR FACES FUNDING CRISIS IN CAUCASUS REGION

19960607 GENEVA, 7 June (UNHCR) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today warned that a funding crisis is threatening to disrupt important programmes of the agency that directly assist some 250,000 refugees and displaced persons in Georgia and Azerbaijan, and over 80,000 displaced persons from Chechnya, in the Russian Federation.

John Horekens, UNHCR Director for Europe, said the agency now has financial reserves of less than $10,000 for its programmes in Azerbaijan, and less than $20,000 for programmes in Georgia. The ongoing UNHCR emergency operation for people displaced from Chechnya, and who have fled to the Russian republics of Ingushetia, Daghestan and north Ossetia, has uncommitted reserves of only $252,000 -- enough to cover operations through July, Mr. Horekens said. He added that "unless significant contributions are made in support of these activities, UNHCR will very soon be unable to commit any further funds. The implications for the people who rely on our aid could be enormous. We once again urgently request governments to dig into their pockets".

Azerbaijan shelters some 230,000 refugees and over 660,00 internally displaced persons, most of them forced to flee as a result of the war in Nagorny-Karabakh. There are 280,000 internally displaced persons in Georgia, who were forced to flee homes in the regions of Abkhazia and south Ossetia because of conflicts there. The UNHCR has requested $16 million to cover 1996 operations to help the most vulnerable and needy displaced families in both countries. However, to date, the agency has received just $5.3 million.

Mr. Horekens said the "UNHCR's programmes in the southern Caucasus focus on helping these often desperately poor people to become more self-reliant. We are running projects to improve the shelter of the most vulnerable families, and to increase their capacity to earn a living, by providing seeds and tools and the means to create small businesses. The main impact of these projects is in the spring. If we don't have the money now, that could mean a year's delay. There's a significant political momentum towards finding solutions to the problems in the region, but it has to be accompanied by concrete humanitarian assistance. Failure to help will mean more uncertainty and despair, and much less hope for the whole area."

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The UNHCR also faces acute funding difficulties for its programme to help people displaced from Chechnya, in the Russian Federation. Some 92,000 have fled the ongoing crisis seeking refuge in the Russian republics of Daghestan, Ingushetia and north Ossetia. An appeal for $6.5 million to cover UNHCR's 1996 programmes, which directly assists 80,000 displaced persons, has so far yielded only $1.5 million, according to Mr. Horekens. He added that "at this point we can no longer enter into agreements with implementing partners to provide services, because we simply do not have the funds to cover them. Our need is urgent. We could see non-governmental organizations leaving this zone, because of the security difficulties and because we can't promise them resources. That would be disastrous. We badly need non- governmental organizations to be present on the ground."

The UNHCR's aid to displaced families from Chechnya includes basic household equipment, plastic sheeting for shelter, medical kits, clothing, bedding, hygiene kits and other domestic items. Prefabricated buildings are under construction for shelter, and water, sanitation and heating projects are being implemented. Community services have been provided to the displaced persons and schools set up. The agency has also supplied equipment and logistical assistance to local migration services.

The UNHCR and other agencies jointly organized a Conference on Displacement and Migration in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which was held on 30 and 31 May in Geneva. Participants agreed to boost the capacity of CIS countries to manage movements of people more effectively and with less suffering. Mr. Horekens stressed that "UNHCR's programmes in Azerbaijan, Georgia and the region around Chechnya fall squarely within the orientations that were agreed upon at the Conference".

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