Chechen Refugees' Situation Is Improving

Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) who visited Ingushetia and Chechnya pointed out the considerable improvement of the situation with refugees, Colonel-General Vladimir Vasilyev, the Russian Deputy Interior Minister, told journalists on Wednesday. According to him, the familiarization tour of refugee camps in Chechnya and Ingushetia has shown that the situation there requires permanent attention. In addition, the PACE representatives pointed out that courts, the prosecutor's office and the bureau of the President's special representatives for human rights have started functioning in Chechnya, Vasilyev said. Now the Chechen society is divided into two groups; one of them is waiting for the return of terrorists and the second larger group is afraid of the revival of the bandit regime, Vasilyev noted.