§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the numbers of people who have fled the conflict in Chechnya, and subsequently returned. [109345]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe security situation in Chechnya ha.s made it very difficult to obtain accurate data. The Danish Refugee Council, a respected NGO working in the area, estimates the population of Chechnya to be 675,000 of whom 143,000 are internally displaced within the republic. They also estimate that a further 95,000 Chechens are living in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia and that 40,000 more are living further afield. According to official sources, the current population of Chechnya is 1,088,000. We believe that more than 180,000 people fled to Ingushetia during the peak of the fighting in late 1999/early 2000. Approximately half of them have now returned to Chechnya.