-> COVER -> G21 NEWS"
A new war in Chechnya sees the New Zealander Rendt Gorter abandoning a promising SCUBA diving school, and returning once again to the North Caucasus. Heading a large relief operation for of a major relief organisation on the ground in Chechnya and Ingushetia, he finds the needed professional distance distracted by having know this haunted land too well when he worked there from 1995 to 1997 during the previous conflict. In this series he reflects on his personal experience in a war that has been largely ignored by the world.
I had never before flown into Slipsovskay airport - or Magas airport as it is named these days to identify it with Ingushetia's contrived capital of the same name right on the other side of the tiny republic. What makes this airport safer this time round? I muse as we came in for the landing.
From 1995 to 1997 I must have flown down from Moscow 20-30 times, and every time Vladikavkaz, 50kms away, would be the destination preferred over the then unreliable service to Ingushetia. Perhaps the fact that one end of the runway virtually butts into Chechnya was another consideration.
The faces expecting us at the barbed wire fence are familiar enough. When, back in 1997, I had handed over as the co-ordinator for the English relief agency Medical Emergency Relief International, these and many friends I left behind as part of an aid project that some months after had to withdraw from a setting in which foreigners of all description simply were hunted game. What makes this setting safer this time round? I muse again.
Sultan packs our bags in the back of the car and soon we are on that familiar road coming from Grozny and leading us to Nazran. As usual, the mountains are shrouded in mist and only green pasture land interspersed by many villages can be seen stretching into the distance. As we pass Barsuki village I recognise the hill on which we, as I soon discover, had entered local legend when our paragliders had been mistaken for the canopies of Ossetian paratroopers and prompted a full turn-out of the Ingush special reaction forces - all two squadrons in full combat gear.
Following my gaze, Sultan points to the hill and makes a quick joke. I remember arriving at the Merlin project in Grozny for the first time in Summer 1995 and already encountering his overflowing spirit. The other Borsiev in the car following us, Bisultan, is also part of the team. And the third brother, the ebullient Ruslan, will need to be located soon.
| The World's Magazine: g21.net
Event # 216: DYNAMITE This Pull-down Menu will hyperjump you to all our great features. Try it! JOIN THE G21 MAILING LIST. Get updates on new features. It's easy! E-mail The World's Magazine with the "Subject" line: SUBSCRIBE. Want to know more about our community? The Info is here. LAST WEEK's EDITION For Deep Background visit the G21-Barnes & Noble Shop OR get great books at the G21 BARNES & NOBLE SEARCH ENGINE Discover the MOIA Discussion List |
Back I am, once again heading a medical relief project with 35 staff and US$2 million to spend. And a Chechnya that needs help even more urgently than back in 1995. Where do we start?
Access to Chechnya itself has been near impossible, but a few days later we find ourselves in the sandbagged offices of the temporary administration.
Chechnya has been pacified and it is safe to work here now, the deputy of the special presidential envoy reassures us, waving his arms innocently over the stacks of ammunition that clutter his office.
But we are issued with military passes and soon regular visits to the occupied territory with much needed medical supplies take place. The trips remain constrained, the time between checkpoints opening and soldiers getting drunk, being somewhat limiting.
The interminable checkpoints are tedious, but --- while somewhat threatening --- pose no serious problems. But it doesn't take much to turn a plain military checkpoint into having a serious impact on one's welfare. A mortar attack during the preceding night, or a simple hangover, can result in being turned around for no justifiable reason.
I remember how such an incident aborted an evacuation prompted by security concerns of the Merlin team back in 1996. I had stayed behind in Nazran that time and heard about the night-time robbery the following day, of how the frustrated robbers took one after the other out in the snow and performed mock executions in order to terrorise those remaining behind into revealing where the non-existent cash was hidden.
What makes Chechnya safer this time round? I muse. There is a crucial difference, I realise, and that is that we know what we are getting ourselves into, and therefore, hopefully, how to stay out of trouble. I certainly intend to do so.
This is the first in a series of reports from Rendt Gorter, in Chechnya, to the G21.