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Red Cross won't leave Northern Caucasus
MOSCOW/GENEVA. Aug 14 (Interfax) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will continue its humanitarian activities in the Northern Caucasus.
"The ICRC will keep track of the safety situation in the region, while continuing to work on the most important areas of humanitarian activities," reads an ICRC official statement, a copy of which was obtained by Interfax on Wednesday.
At the same time, the ICRC is especially concerned about the fate of two people who have been abducted in Chechnya: Arjan Erkel, an employee of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and Nina Davydovich, representative of the Russian non-governmental organization Druzhba. They are also concerned about the increasing difficulties that humanitarian organizations are facing in the region.
On Wednesday, MSF announced that it was suspending its operations in Dagestan and Ingushetia, following the kidnapping of Arjan Erkel in Chechnya.
Humanitarian programs were suspended in Chechnya on July 29, when Nina Davydovich was abducted.
MSF said both abductions indicate that civilians and employees of humanitarian organizations are at risk in the region.
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