ANALYSIS: Chechens in Ukraine: a diaspora in the making? (10/15/00)

ANALYSIS

Chechens in Ukraine: a diaspora in the making?

by Lily Hyde
RFE/RL Newsline

The meeting around a table cluttered with lemonade bottles and food plates was rowdy. A young Chechen warrior wanted to boast about his fighting exploits in Chechnya. A Ukrainian from Crimea pledged his undying respect for the Chechens, while a Ukrainian nationalist took issue with the Crimean's use of the Russian language. At the head of the table, a delegation of war veterans recalled the forced evacuation of Chechens from their republic in the Stalinist era. And from the next room, the plaintive sound of the Muslim call to prayer was heard.

The two dozen or so people had been brought together under the auspices of the Muslim Community in the town of Cherkasy, south of Kyiv. The group unites about 3,000 Muslims in the region, mostly Tatars, Azerbaijanis, and natives of Central Asian states. A network of such organizations across Ukraine represents 2 million Muslims.

On September 6, they gathered at the behest of their newest members, Chechens, to mark the Chechen day of independence, which was declared in 1991, but is still far from being a political reality. Estimates of the number of Chechens in Ukraine vary from 2,000 to 5,000. Official statistics do not exist, since only a small fraction of the Chechens are registered and have received formal refugee status.

Refugees have found it hard to get the Ukrainian government to recognize them. Rakhman Khamtsuyev, a Chechen whose wife is Russian, arrived in Cherkasy with his family and his brother's all-Chechen family. The brother's family did not receive permission to stay and had to return to their home town just outside the capital, Grozny.

According to Mamed Khataev, a Chechen who heads the Cherkassy Muslim community, this is the usual Ukrainian procedure with all-Chechen families, who are given no chance to live legally in Ukraine by the authorities: "They come and go, but no one registers you. [The authorities] can, they say they will, but it's only on paper. They appear on TV and say we have a good attitude to these people, we accept them - but its all on paper and on TV. In fact, there's an unofficial order that no Chechens are registered for any price, they are sent out of Ukraine."

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ukraine acknowledges that an "unwritten rule" does indeed prevent local immigration services from accepting many refugees from Russian republics like Chechnya. The official reason is that such refugees are Russian citizens and, therefore, from a country that respects human rights.

Nevertheless, Mr. Khamtsuyev is grateful to Ukraine, where he says the media offer a more balanced picture of events in Chechnya than their Russian counterparts. Ukrainian authorities have also allowed Chechen information centers to operate, despite the objections of the Russian government.

Most important, Mr. Khamtsuyev has been able to escape the horrors of life just outside Grozny. Chechens in Ukraine are linked by unofficial or social organizations, like the Muslim communities, where they have found a welcome and some support. But the Cherkasy community cannot do much for the seven Chechen families who have moved into the town. The community rents only two rooms in an apartment, one of which it uses as a mosque, the other as a study room for Arabic and religion classes and social gatherings, such as the Chechen independence celebration.

The Cherkasy Muslim community head Mr. Khataev insists the group is purely a spiritual and social movement and does not engage in politics. Leaders of the Chechen diaspora in Crimea cooperate with the Crimean Tatar political organization Mejlis to find Chechen families accommodation and support. And they also stay in touch with Chechen information centers around the country.

Not everyone at the September 6 gathering had a Muslim background. Some ethnic Ukrainians also support the Chechen cause, including nationalists, who see it as another opportunity to oppose what they consider Russian imperialism, and women who have married Chechen men.

Yuri Lepechin is from Crimea but grew up in Grozny and is now actively helping the Crimean diaspora organize. "Our goal is to establish a diaspora and, with its help, send the children and old people in Crimea for health treatment," he told RFE/RL. Through the diaspora, we are also organizing the education of a cadre of Chechens. We're preparing Chechnya for freedom - I would say, free Ukraine is preparing Chechnya for freedom."

Lily Hyde is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Ukraine.

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