12,000 forced migrants have returned to Chechnya from neighbouring Ingushetia since this year's start, Akhmad Kadyrov, standing for President of Chechnya, told a news conference in Moscow Thursday.
Another 6,500 Chechens have filed applications for the permission to return, he said. Housing for them is being built in Chechnya.
A refugee camp of more than 300 tents has been dismantled in Ingushetia, added Mr Kadyrov. "We are not forcing migrants out of tent camps," he emphasised. (RIA Novosti)
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