Chechnya: UNHCR team ready for deployment

UNHCR has put together an emergency team for deployment in Stavropol as the humanitarian situation in Ingushetia worsens by the day. The team will leave for the area as soon as we have received security guarantees from the Russian government. During the High Commissioner's visit to Moscow earlier this month the Russians said they would come up with a security plan for our staff by last Tuesday. So far we have received no word from the Russians. As soon as we receive adequate security guarantees, the team will leave from Geneva for Stavropol. Team members will be based in Stavropol but will also do several day-long missions to the northern Caucasus.

This morning another UNHCR convoy carrying 225.2 mt of food arrived in Ingushetia's capital Nazran. The Ingush authorities now put the number of those displaced from Chechnya at over 225,000.