On December 10 (Fri), the Government of Japan decided to extend an emergency grant aid of US$500,000 to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and another US$500,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), totaling US$1 million, to relieve the plight of displaced persons in the northern Caucasus region of the Russian Federation, including those who escaped from the Republic of Chechnya to the Republic of Ingushetia.
The assistance will be used for provision of shelters, hygiene materials and daily necessities for displaced persons, through the UNHCR and the ICRC.
In the northern Caucasus region in Russia, which includes Chechnya, the clash between the Russian Federation troops and armed groups of Chechnya which started this August, has given rise to about 240,000 displaced persons, and their conditions have been severely deteriorating because of insufficient winterization and the worsening sanitary situation. Under such circumstances, the ICRC Appeal (November 1) and the U.N. Flash Appeal (November 23) were issued, requesting humanitarian assistance from the international community. The present assistance by the Government of Japan is intended to respond to these appeals.