Browse through our Interesting Nodes on Greek Advertizing & Production Services Read the Convention Relating to the Regime of the Straits (24 July 1923) Read the Convention Relating to the Regime of the Straits (24 July 1923)
HR-Net - Hellenic Resources Network Compact version
Today's Suggestion
Read The "Macedonian Question" (by Maria Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou)
HomeAbout HR-NetNewsWeb SitesDocumentsOnline HelpUsage InformationContact us
Thursday, 28 March 2024
 
News
  Latest News (All)
     From Greece
     From Cyprus
     From Europe
     From Balkans
     From Turkey
     From USA
  Announcements
  World Press
  News Archives
Web Sites
  Hosted
  Mirrored
  Interesting Nodes
Documents
  Special Topics
  Treaties, Conventions
  Constitutions
  U.S. Agencies
  Cyprus Problem
  Other
Services
  Personal NewsPaper
  Greek Fonts
  Tools
  F.A.Q.
 

RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 119, 00-06-20

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 119, 20 June 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] PUTIN HAILS CREATION OF UNION OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA...
  • [02] ...WHICH MAY HAVE A HIDDEN AGENDA?
  • [03] RUSSIAN BORDER GUARD SHOT DEAD ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH FRONTIER
  • [04] MORE GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES QUIT MAJORITY FACTION
  • [05] KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA REACH NEW AGREEMENT ON BAIKONUR
  • [06] THOUSANDS OF KYRGYZ SIGN PETITION FOR KULOV'S RELEASE
  • [07] KYRGYZ PROTEST JAILING OF JOURNALIST
  • [08] TAJIK FOREIGN MINISTRY ACCUSES RUSSIAN MEDIA OF BIAS
  • [09] SECOND FALSE BOMB ALARM AT U.S. EMBASSSY IN UZBEKISTAN
  • [10] UZBEKISTAN DENIES ITS PLANES HAVE BOMBED AFGHANISTAN

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [11] U.S. DENIES REPORT OF DEAL WITH MILOSEVIC...
  • [12] ...AS DO MOSCOW, EU, HAGUE
  • [13] PANIC CALLS FOR DEAL TO OUST MILOSEVIC
  • [14] DJUKANOVIC: ATTEMPT ON DRASKOVIC 'ON ORDERS FROM MILOSEVIC'
  • [15] BURZAN: INVESTIGATIONS PROCEEDING APACE
  • [16] DEL PONTE CANCELS NEWS CONFERENCE
  • [17] PATTEN CAUTIOUS ON 'TARGETED' SERBIAN SANCTIONS...
  • [18] ...UPBEAT ON FRENCH SUMMIT CALL
  • [19] G-17: ORDINARY SERBS PAYING FOR MILOSEVIC'S CONSTRUCTION
  • [20] SERBIAN CENTER FOR ILLEGAL CHINESE MIGRANTS?
  • [21] RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS BREAK UP PROTEST
  • [22] SERBIAN MODERATES SLAM KOSOVA PROTECTION FORCE
  • [23] SOCCER VIOLENCE COMES TO BRCKO
  • [24] ROMANIAN ELECTRICITY WORKERS STRIKE OVER WAGE FREEZE
  • [25] LUCINSCHI SAYS MOLDOVA WILL GET CHEAPER GAS
  • [26] BULGARIA PROJECTS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [27] UKRAINIAN POLICY SHUTS OUT MANY ASYLUM SEEKERS

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] PUTIN HAILS CREATION OF UNION OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA...

    In a

    message to the 172 participants in the constituent congress

    of the Union of Armenians of Russia, which took place in

    Moscow on 16 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted the

    "wise and well-balanced" position of Russia's Armenian

    community on key political issues, according to Groong,

    citing Armenpress. Putin said that the efforts of Russia's

    Armenian diaspora help strengthen the "strategic cooperation"

    between Russia and Armenia. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail

    Kasyanov and the chairmen of the State Duma and Federation

    Council, Gennadii Seleznev and Yegor Stroev, also extended

    greetings to the congress, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta"

    of 20 June. There are an estimated 2.5 million Armenians in

    the Russian Federation, of whom some 600,000-800,000 live in

    Krasnodar Krai, where they constitute the second-largest

    ethnic group and are subjected to systematic harassment both

    by the local authorities and the region's Cossack population,

    "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on16 June. LF

    [02] ...WHICH MAY HAVE A HIDDEN AGENDA?

    Among the guests at the

    constituent congress of the new Armenian union was Pavel

    Borodin, state secretary of the Union State of Russia and

    Belarus, who expressed his desire to see Armenia accede to

    that formation, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 20 June.

    The delegates to the congress elected as its chairman

    businessman Ara Abramian, whom "Izvestiya" on 17 June

    identified as a close friend and associate of Borodin. LF

    [03] RUSSIAN BORDER GUARD SHOT DEAD ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH FRONTIER

    Turkish border guards shot dead a 21-year-old Russian soldier

    who crossed the Arax River marking the Armenian-Turkish

    border near the Turkish town of Karakoyunlu on 18 June, AFP

    and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Lieutenant General

    Mikhail Naymilo, who commands the Russian border guard

    contingent in Armenia, condemned the killing as a violation

    of international conventions. Naymilo said that Turkish

    border guards on the opposite bank of the river had invited

    the Russian to join them for a cigarette. Turkish officials

    say he crossed the river spontaneously and ignored warnings

    to stop. LF

    [04] MORE GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES QUIT MAJORITY FACTION

    Former Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Karkarashvili

    announced on 19 June that he and two former parliamentary

    committee chairmen intend to quit the Union of Citizens of

    Georgia (SMK) parliamentary faction and create a new faction,

    Caucasus Press reported. He said the new faction will

    comprise 10-11 deputies but did not specify whether they are

    all defectors from the SMK. The 17 deputies from the

    Abkhazeti faction, which together with the SMK originally

    formed the majority faction, split from the SMK last month to

    protest the Georgian leadership's policy toward Abkhazia (see

    "RFE/RL Newsline, " 29 May 2000). LF

    [05] KAZAKHSTAN, RUSSIA REACH NEW AGREEMENT ON BAIKONUR

    Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev opened a two-day

    official visit to Russia on 19 June by meeting with his

    Russian counterpart, Putin, at the latter's country residence

    near Moscow. The two presidents gave an overall positive

    assessment of bilateral relations, which Putin characterized

    as "progressively developing at a very high level" in both

    the political and the economic sphere, according to Interfax.

    The two presidents reached agreement on the terms, so far not

    made public, for Russia's continued use of Kazakhstan's

    Baikonur cosmodrome. Putin also expressed approval of

    Nazarbaev's proposal to create a fund for the protection of

    the Russian language in other CIS states, ITAR-TASS reported.

    Later the same day, Nazarbaev met with Russian Premier

    Kasyanov to discuss Baikonur, the export of Kazakh oil via

    Russian territory, and the proposed delineation of the

    Russian and Kazakh sectors of the Caspian Sea. LF

    [06] THOUSANDS OF KYRGYZ SIGN PETITION FOR KULOV'S RELEASE

    To

    date, more than 7,000 people have signed a petition calling

    for the release of arrested opposition Ar-Namys party

    chairman Feliks Kulov, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 19

    June. The petition was organized by participants in the

    ongoing picket in Bishkek, today in its 97th day, who

    likewise demand Kulov's release and the annulment of the

    parliamentary elections held in February-March. Meanwhile

    four picketers who were attacked and beaten by police on 12

    June have brought law suits against the Bishkek police (see

    "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 June 2000). LF

    [07] KYRGYZ PROTEST JAILING OF JOURNALIST

    Twenty-two journalists

    picketed the Djalalabad City Court on 19 June to protest the

    two-year sentence handed down to their colleague Moldosaly

    Ibraimov, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported. Ibraimov was

    found guilty of insulting the judge of a local district court

    by reporting in a local newspaper on 8 April that the judge

    was rumored to have accepted a $15,000 bribe in a court

    dispute between two rival candidates in the parliamentary

    elections held in February-March. Ibraimov and his newspaper

    were each fined 100,000 soms (about $2,000). LF

    [08] TAJIK FOREIGN MINISTRY ACCUSES RUSSIAN MEDIA OF BIAS

    In a

    statement released on 19 June, the Tajik Foreign Ministry

    expressed concern that Russian media have completely ignored

    most positive developments in that country over the past

    month, including last week's Central Asian Union summit and

    the official visits of the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan,

    Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, Asia Plus-Blitz reported. The

    statement further condemned Russian media coverage of

    statements by Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Chairman

    Vladimir Zhirinovskii, which, it claimed, insult the honor

    and dignity of the Tajik people. LF

    [09] SECOND FALSE BOMB ALARM AT U.S. EMBASSSY IN UZBEKISTAN

    The

    U.S. embassy in Tashkent was evacuated on 19 June after an

    anonymous telephone caller claimed there was a bomb on the

    premises, Interfax reported. A search of the building and

    grounds failed to identify any such threat. It was the second

    such bomb hoax within five days (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16

    June 2000). LF

    [10] UZBEKISTAN DENIES ITS PLANES HAVE BOMBED AFGHANISTAN

    The

    Uzbek embassy in Dushanbe has issued an official denial of a

    Kyrgyz press report that Uzbek aircraft bombed a terrorist

    base in Afghanistan close to the Afghan-Uzbek border, Asia

    Plus-Blitz reported on 19 June. The Kyrgyz report, which was

    published in the 17 June issue of the official newspaper

    "Slovo Kyrgyzstana," claimed that eight Afghan militants were

    killed in the raid and that the Taliban had shot down an

    Uzbek plane, killing the two pilots. LF


    [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

    [11] U.S. DENIES REPORT OF DEAL WITH MILOSEVIC...

    State Department

    spokesman Richard Boucher told a press conference in

    Washington on 19 June that he "has seen no proposals along

    the lines" of that day's "New York Times" story regarding a

    possible deal for Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to

    give up power (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 20 June 2000).

    According to the daily, Washington, its allies, and Moscow

    are looking for ways that Milosevic could go into exile with

    his money and safety guaranteed in order to speed up a

    transition to democracy in Serbia. Boucher stressed, however,

    that Washington's "policy is fairly simple. [Milosevic]

    should be out of the country and in The Hague," Reuters

    reported. The spokesman added that the State Department "is

    not interested in the subject" of a deal with Milosevic. PM

    [12] ...AS DO MOSCOW, EU, HAGUE

    In Moscow on 19 June, Foreign

    Minister Igor Ivanov called the "New York Times" story the

    product of a "fertile imagination." He stressed, however,

    that Moscow has talked with Washington about the need to "end

    the isolation of Yugoslavia." Interfax quoted unnamed

    "Russian experts" as saying that the appearance of the "New

    York Times" story "suggests that the West is trying to

    resolve the problem that it created by declaring Milosevic a

    war criminal" in 1999. In Santa Maria da Feira in Portugal,

    EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten said that he has

    "not encountered any of those stories" about a negotiated

    deal for Milosevic's departure. Patten added that "the sooner

    Milosevic goes, the better for everyone in Serbia," Reuters

    reported. In Skopje, Hague tribunal Deputy Prosecutor Graham

    Blewitt argued that "any country that agrees to take

    President Milosevic...has an obligation to arrest and

    surrender him to the tribunal. That is very clear," AP

    reported. PM

    [13] PANIC CALLS FOR DEAL TO OUST MILOSEVIC

    Former Yugoslav Prime

    Minister Milan Panic wrote in the "Washington Post" on 20

    June that "establishing the conditions for peace and

    stability in the Balkans serves a greater justice" than just

    insisting that Milosevic go to The Hague. Panic argues that

    Milosevic will never relinquish power on his own and that

    "the goals of peace and justice" can be secured only by

    negotiating his exit. "The deal that could be offered is a

    full and final lifting of sanctions and suspension of

    prosecution of Milosevic if he and his wife accept permanent

    foreign exile," Panic argued. He added that only Russian

    President Vladimir Putin has the "credibility and the clout"

    in Milosevic's eyes to negotiate such a deal. PM

    [14] DJUKANOVIC: ATTEMPT ON DRASKOVIC 'ON ORDERS FROM MILOSEVIC'

    Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic told the Rome daily "La

    Repubblica" of 19 June that "we have concrete proof that [the

    recent attempt on the life of Serbian opposition leader Vuk

    Draskovic] was a political assassination [attempt] and that

    the trail leads straight to Belgrade" (see "RFE/RL Balkan

    Report, 20 June 2000). Djukanovic added that Milosevic is

    "the one who created the chaos on the territory of the former

    Yugoslavia over the past 10 years." The Serbian dictator

    knows that his fall from power is inevitable and is looking

    for a new war, perhaps with Montenegro, in order to postpone

    his demise, Djukanovic argued. PM

    [15] BURZAN: INVESTIGATIONS PROCEEDING APACE

    Montenegrin Deputy

    Prime Minister Dragisa Burzan said in Podgorica on 19 June

    that investigations into the attempted murder of Draskovic

    are proceeding well but that it is still too early to release

    the names of the suspects under arrest (see "RFE/RL

    Newsline," 19 June 2000). Burzan charged that Milosevic is

    trying to "destabilize Montenegro...by exporting terrorism

    from Serbia." PM

    [16] DEL PONTE CANCELS NEWS CONFERENCE

    Carla Del Ponte, who is

    the chief prosecutor for the Hague-based war crimes tribunal,

    cancelled a press conference slated for the evening of 19

    June in Skopje. No reason was given. She proceeded the next

    day from Macedonia to Kosova en route to Montenegro. In

    Belgrade, a Foreign Ministry statement said she is on

    Yugoslav territory illegally because she has no visa. "Carla

    Del Ponte is a NATO administration clerk and such a person

    does not have permission from Yugoslav authorities [to cross

    the frontier from Macedonia to Kosova] nor does she have a

    visa for a visit to any part of the country's sovereign

    territory," Reuters reported. PM

    [17] PATTEN CAUTIOUS ON 'TARGETED' SERBIAN SANCTIONS...

    Speaking

    in the Portuguese town of Santa Maria da Feira on 19 June,

    Patten said that there will be problems implementing a

    program by which the EU exempts various Serbian businesses

    from sanctions against the Milosevic regime. According to the

    proposal, the EU will identify Serbian companies that "have

    the ability to withhold revenues" from the Belgrade regime.

    Once identified, such companies would be placed on a "white

    list" and thereby made legally able to do business with EU

    member countries. Patten noted, however, that the plan has

    "some measure of success" and should be studied, Reuters

    reported. PM

    [18] ...UPBEAT ON FRENCH SUMMIT CALL

    Patten hailed a French

    proposal for a summit to deal with issues affecting the "west

    Balkans" (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 6 June 2000). He

    stressed that the gathering will "reflect the importance of

    the west Balkans to the European Union," Reuters reported. In

    Sarajevo, "Dnevni avaz" of 20 June noted, however, that

    Bosnian politicians have mixed reactions to the French

    proposal. Bosnian Croat leaders in particular are suspicious

    of any West European proposal that could lead to the creation

    "of any kind of new Yugoslavia," the daily added. The Bosnian

    government has asked Paris for more details of the proposal.

    PM

    [19] G-17: ORDINARY SERBS PAYING FOR MILOSEVIC'S CONSTRUCTION

    PROGRAM

    Mladjan Dinkic, who is a spokesman for the G-17

    group of opposition economists, said in Belgrade that the

    reconstruction of Serbian infrastructure and industry will

    cost $3.8 billion and take 19 years if Serbia remains

    isolated, "Danas" reported on 20 June. He added that the

    regime is financing its reconstruction program by forced

    deductions from workers' pay packets and by printing money.

    PM

    [20] SERBIAN CENTER FOR ILLEGAL CHINESE MIGRANTS?

    The number of

    Chinese in Belgrade "has soared" since China and Serbia drew

    closer diplomatically in 1999 in the wake of NATO's mistaken

    bombing of the Chinese embassy in the Serbian capital,

    London's "The Times" wrote on 20 June. The newspaper

    suggested that Serbia has become a jumping-off point for

    Chinese migrants looking for a better life in Western Europe.

    It added that "there are rumors in Belgrade of involvement by

    Yugoslav officials in the Chinese trade of goods and people."

    PM

    [21] RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS BREAK UP PROTEST

    Russian KFOR troops

    fired warning shots into the air on 19 June to disperse

    several hundred rock-throwing ethnic Albanians in Kamenica.

    The protesters were part of a group of 3,500 people who

    attended a ceremony to unveil a monument marking the first

    anniversary of the Serbian withdrawal from Kosova. The crowd

    became angry after peacekeepers refused to allow them to

    place a plaque honoring the Kosova Liberation Army on the

    monument, AP reported. PM

    [22] SERBIAN MODERATES SLAM KOSOVA PROTECTION FORCE

    The Serbian

    National Council said in a statement to Serbian private news

    agencies on 19 June that KFOR's recent discovery of 67 tons

    of arms and ammunition in the Drenica area shows that

    "Albanian terrorists have not been disarmed and that the

    Kosova Protection Corps has kept weapons" from the 1999

    conflict (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 June 2000). PM

    [23] SOCCER VIOLENCE COMES TO BRCKO

    The joint Brcko police force

    prevented a group of several hundred rowdy Serbian soccer

    fans from entering the Muslim Brod district during the night

    of 18-19 June, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Police

    arrested 14 fans, who were shouting Serbian nationalist

    slogans and damaging cars and other property. PM

    [24] ROMANIAN ELECTRICITY WORKERS STRIKE OVER WAGE FREEZE

    Workers

    at the national electricity state company Conel went on

    strike on 19 June over a government-ordered wage freeze,

    RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Prime Minister Mugur

    Isarescu met with representatives of the five largest trade

    unions, and a government spokesman later said differences had

    been resolved and the workers had agreed to return to work on

    20 June. But trade unions representing Conel workers said

    they are rejecting a government proposal to postpone the

    freeze until 31 July and apply it only to managers' bonuses

    and loss-making utility monopolies. The freeze is part of

    measures agreed with the IMF to cut down state-owned

    companies' losses. A Bucharest court has ruled that the

    government decree ordering the freeze was illegal, but the

    cabinet is appealing that decision. MS

    [25] LUCINSCHI SAYS MOLDOVA WILL GET CHEAPER GAS

    President Petru

    Lucinschi told journalists on 19 June that one of the results

    of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Chisinau last

    week is that Moldova will have to pay less for gas supplies

    from Russia, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Lucinschi

    said that under the agreement reached by the two sides,

    Moldova will pay $50 per 1,000 cubic meters, instead of $60.

    He said Gazprom Chairman Rem Vyakhirev, who was a member of

    the Russian delegation, agreed to that reduction. Under the

    same agreement, Chisinau is to transfer another $47 million

    worth of shares to the joint Russian-Moldovan venture

    MoldovaGas, thus reducing the $831 million debt owed to

    Gazprom. Meanwhile, separatist leader Igor Smirnov said that

    by failing to invite him to attend the summit with Putin,

    Lucinschi violated the provisions of the 1997 Moscow

    memorandum. MS

    [26] BULGARIA PROJECTS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH

    Finance Minister

    Muravei Radev on 18 June said his country's GDP in 2000 will

    grow by more than 4 percent, which will allow the government

    to "substantially reduce taxes," AP reported. Radev spoke

    ahead of a meeting in Sofia with an IMF delegation. He also

    said the government expects an unspecified surplus, which

    will be reinvested in infrastructure programs and social

    assistance. MS


    [C] END NOTE

    [27] UKRAINIAN POLICY SHUTS OUT MANY ASYLUM SEEKERS

    By Lily Hyde

    Elkana Gale gets stopped several times a day by the

    police. He says they have strip-searched, insulted, and

    beaten him and have even threatened his life.

    Gale is a refugee from torture in Sudan. Yet these

    violations of his human rights happened in Ukraine, where

    Gale sought asylum three years ago. On paper, Ukraine granted

    him sanctuary. In reality, he, along with many other refugees

    seeking shelter there, say they have exchanged one form of

    torture and repression for another.

    "I came [to Ukraine] by mistake," Gale told RFE/RL. "I

    had to run away from the war. I just had to go to where it

    was possible. I wanted a Christian country so that I could

    have a rest. I found myself in Ukraine. I didn't know

    anything about Ukraine. But when I came here, I found out

    that though there is war at home, home is the best."

    Ukraine's refugee policy is one of the most liberal of

    former Soviet republics--many of which have no refugee

    legislation at all. Ukraine has accepted more than 3,500

    refugees since 1996, while Russia has accepted just 400.

    But Ukraine has not signed the 1951 UN convention that

    lays down guidelines for asylum refugee policy worldwide. And

    because of inadequate legislation, Ukraine turns down large

    numbers of UN-recognized asylum seekers. Those it does

    accept, meanwhile, are not receiving adequate protection.

    Refugee status is granted by Ukrainian local immigration

    authorities and has to be renewed every three months. Because

    of this three-month arrangement, even refugees who have been

    in Ukraine for years are still seen as temporary residents.

    The authorities do not provide them with housing or financial

    aid. They are not allowed to work legally. They are treated

    as unwelcome visitors, resented by locals, and constantly

    harassed by law-enforcement agencies.

    According to a UN survey in Ukraine last year, more than

    half of refugees from Afghanistan, African countries, and

    former Soviet states are regularly treated disrespectfully by

    the police. A significant number said the militia had

    extorted money or confiscated possessions from them.

    Mykola Yarina is head of the police department for

    migrants in the Interior Ministry. He told RFE/RL that police

    have to stop foreigners because they may be illegal migrants

    but that refugees are treated more leniently.

    "There have been questions about the police illegally

    detaining foreigners," he said. "But it's different for

    refugees. The police are given special instructions. Every

    policeman, from the top downward, has orders how to behave

    with foreigners, whether refugees or illegal migrants, and

    they have to check their identification. At regular meetings,

    we provide militia heads with information about their rude

    attitude to foreigners and we provide them with written rules

    of behavior."

    But many people classified under Ukrainian law as

    illegal migrants are, according to the UN High Commissioner

    for Refugees, genuine asylum seekers. Yet because they came

    by way of a third country--usually Russia--Ukraine does not

    accept their applications and does not even grant temporary

    living status. But it also makes no provision for them to go

    elsewhere, not even back to Russia, with which Ukraine has no

    re-admission agreement.

    Pierfrancesco Natta of the UNHCR's office in Kyiv told

    RFE/RL that "this is creating the problem of a limbo

    situation for many people. They are not able to return to the

    country where they were transiting, for example Russia, and

    basically are forced to stay in the country illegally and

    basically are under the continuous harassment from the police

    forces.... They have to request legal resident permits that

    these people cannot provide."

    Earlier, asylum seekers could appeal to a government

    committee for migration if they were turned down by local

    migration authorities. But that committee was dissolved as

    part of government streamlining earlier this year--a move

    that would seem to indicate that refugees are not a high

    priority for the Ukrainian government.

    Yarina and other Ukrainian officials say Ukraine cannot

    accept more refugees or offer them better conditions because

    of the country's desperate economic situation. But the

    UNHCR's Natta says the rest of the world cannot help

    financially until Ukraine signs the UN convention on

    refugees. As a result, he argues, Ukraine is finds itself in

    something of a "pariah situation." Even if the authorities

    have recognized 3,500 people, "basically no one would

    consider that a real figure. So the authorities are always

    expressing the willingness to accede to the convention, [but]

    unfortunately this never came true, and we feel that the

    authorities are reluctant due to the fear of additional

    financial obligations toward a category that is not really

    considered a priority."

    The result, says Natta, is bad for the asylum seekers.

    Between October and December last year, the number of

    registered refugees in Ukraine fell from 3,560 to 2,697:

    Nearly a thousand, tired of the difficult life in Ukraine,

    crossed the border into Western Europe.

    The UNHCR wants Ukraine to improve its refugee policy so

    that asylum seekers choose to remain in that country. It says

    Western countries would help Ukraine shoulder the economic

    burden if it meant saving the West from more asylum seekers.

    The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Kyiv.

    20-06-00


    Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
    Back to Top
    Copyright © 1995-2023 HR-Net (Hellenic Resources Network). An HRI Project.
    All Rights Reserved.

    HTML by the HR-Net Group / Hellenic Resources Institute, Inc.
    rferl2html v1.01 run on Tuesday, 20 June 2000 - 13:33:19 UTC