Russian province offers to take in Gaza refugees

‘We will continue actively promoting the adaptation of our Palestinian brothers to life in the Chechen Republic, including their employment.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A Muslim-majority Russian province in the Caucasus region is offering refuge to Gazans displaced by the war with Israel, and may even secure the refugees Russian citizenship.

In Chechnya 1,124 refugees from Gaza have been provided with housing, aid and employment.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced the construction of five buildings with 35 apartments each in the capital city of Grozny.

Chechnya’s 1.5 mostly Muslim residents have created a “Palestinian village” to attract refugees from Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

In a speech, Kadyrov said, “We will continue actively promoting the adaptation of our Palestinian brothers to life in the Chechen Republic, including their employment.”

In a Telegram post, Kadyrov wrote, “With great pleasure, I have congratulated the settlers who will soon receive [new] homes.”

He added, “I stressed that we will continue providing comprehensive assistance and support.”

The foundation underwriting the construction of the “Palestinian Village” is named after the current leader’s father, Akhmad Kadyrov who was assassinated by a radical Islamic Chechen group in 2005.

Each Palestinian refugee will be given a grant of 100,000 roubles or $1, 200.

“As of now, about 130 million roubles ($1.5 million) in non-budgetary funds have been spent on all the assistance provided to internal refugees, including humanitarian aid sent to the Gaza Strip,” said Ahmed Dudaev, Minister of National Policy, Foreign Relations, Press, and Information of the Chechen Republic.

Alex Tancer, a former chairman of the Follow-up Committee for Immigrant Promise Fulfillment reported that 1,124 Gazans arrived in Chechnya and those without passports, especially young children, were issued Russian passports.

Tancer added, “Gazan refugees have been provided with warm homes and good care, including learning the Russian language and arranging work and studies at local universities.”

Although nations like South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) blame Israel for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, reports, witness accounts and in some cases, video evidence reveal that Hamas is largely to blame for hoarding humanitarian aid and refusing to allow Gazans to escape to safe areas.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit declared that Hamas was preventing residents of the Gaza Strip from moving to safe locations.

A released audio revealed a Gazan man telling an IDF officer that Hamas was blocking people from fleeing the northern Gaza Strip, as strikes on the enclave continued to intensify.