Chechens in Austria – did they escape the conflict? FM4 Reality Check (12-13) takes a closer look. Why has a mountainous republic with an approximate size of Styria and a bit more than one million inhabitants situated at the southern front of the Russian Federation in the Northern part of the Caucasus Mountains so fascinated me for several years now? And not only me but as well many other scientists, journalists, human rights activists and social workers? Maybe because the republic of Chechnya is a place where two major armed conflicts including vast human rights violations took place in the nineties. Maybe because the security situation still is quite unsafe and the situation of the whole Northern Caucasus remains explosive and unforeseeable. Maybe also because around 100.000 Chechens live as refugees in Western Europe,... [read full story]
