37,000 South Ossetian refugees flee to Russia

[Joanne98]

August 17, 2008, 13:13

37,000 South Ossetian refugees flee to Russia

More than 37,000 refugees from South Ossetia have applied to the Russian Migration Service for temporary shelter in Russia. Other refugees though have decided to return to the war-torn region. Meanwhile more aid is flowing to the area from Russia and other countries to help return life to normal there as soon as possible.

Russia's Emergencies Ministry says it could take over two years to completely rebuild the capital Tskhinvali after the city came under siege from the Georgian military.

More than 1,700 Russian emergency workers are helping civilians recover from the bombardment of the South Ossetian capital.

The scale of devastation in Tskhinvali is enormous, but the focus remains on the rescue and recovery operations.

After visiting Tskhinvali, Russia’s Emergencies Minister Sergey Shoigu has estimated it will take at least two years to rebuild the city.

He said that every day 120 tonnes of essential provisions and building materials are being delivered to Tskhinvali. A working bakery has been set-up so that there is some fresh bread in the city.

The injured are being treated at mobile hospitals and a special group of psychologists are driving around the city trying to offer support.

“The key task now is to transfer all refugees from temporary camps in North Ossetia to stationary facilities. We should also have to set up a humanitarian centre in Tskhinvali to hand out aid, to pay compensation for the lost property. We need it so that people can live there in normal conditions, so that they can be provided with food and medical help,” Russia’s Emergencies Minister Sergey Shoigu said.

While the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali is attempting to return to some kind of normality, there are other locations that have also suffered from the Georgian attack. A number of South Ossetian villages were battered by severe strikes – with some of them turning into ghost towns.


http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/29082

[Turbineguy]

1. I remember the "Gas War" of 1969 in California.

I put 14 gallons of gas in a 12 gallon fuel tank that was only 3/4 empty.

Since the ethnic Georgains have moved out too, the place should be more than empty.