The Trauma of Ongoing Conflict and Displacement in Chechnya: Quantitative Assessment of Living Conditions, and Psychosocial and General Health Status Among War Displaced in Chechnya and Ingushetia.
Authors
de Jong, Kvan der Kam, S
Ford, N
Hargreaves, S
van Oosten, R
Cunningham, D
Boots, G
Andrault, E
Kleber, R
Affiliation
Médecins Sans Frontières, Plantage Middenlaan 14, 1018 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. kaz.de.jong@amsterdam.msf.org.Issue Date
2007
Metadata
Show full item recordJournal
Conflict and HealthAbstract
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Conflict in Chechnya has resulted in over a decade of violence, human rights abuses, criminality and poverty, and a steady flow of displaced seeking refuge throughout the region. At the beginning of 2004 MSF undertook quantitative surveys among the displaced populations in Chechnya and neighbouring Ingushetia. METHODS: Surveys were carried out in Ingushetia (January 2004) and Chechnya (February 2004) through systematic sampling. Various conflict-related factors contributing to ill health were researched to obtain information on displacement history, living conditions, and psychosocial and general health status. RESULTS: The average length of displacement was five years. Conditions in both locations were poor, and people in both locations indicated food shortages (Chechnya (C): 13.3%, Ingushetia (I): 11.3%), and there was a high degree of dependency on outside help (C: 95.4%, I: 94.3%). Most people (C: 94%, I: 98%) were confronted with violence in the past. Many respondents had witnessed the killing of people (C: 22.7%, I: 24.1%) and nearly half of people interviewed witnessed arrests (C: 53.1%, I: 48.4%) and maltreatment (C: 56.2%, I: 44.5%). Approximately one third of those interviewed had directly experienced war-related violence. A substantial number of people interviewed - one third in Ingushetia (37.5%) and two-thirds in Chechnya (66.8%) - rarely felt safe. The violence was ongoing, with respondents reporting violence in the month before the survey (C: 12.5%, I: 4.6%). Results of the general health questionnaire (GHQ 28) showed that nearly all internally displaced persons interviewed were suffering from health complaints such as somatic complaints, anxiety/insomnia, depressive feelings or social dysfunction (C: 201, 78.5%, CI: 73.0% - 83.4%; I: 230, 81.3%, CI: 76.2% - 85.6%). Poor health status was reflected in other survey questions, but health services were difficult to access for around half the population (C: 54.3%, I: 46.6%). DISCUSSION: The study demonstrates that the health needs of internally displaced in both locations are similarly high and equally unaddressed. The high levels of past confrontation with violence and ongoing exposure in both locations is likely to contribute to a further deterioration of the health status of internally displaced. As of March 2007, concerns remain about how the return process is being managed by the authorities.PubMed ID
17411456Language
enISSN
1752-1505ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1186/1752-1505-1-4
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- High levels of mortality, exposure to violence and psychological distress experienced by the internally displaced population of Ein Issa camp prior to and during their displacement in Northeast Syria, November 2017.
- Authors: Vernier L, Cramond V, Hoetjes M, Lenglet A, Hoare T, Malaeb R, Carrion Martin AI
- Issue date: 2019
- Health status among internally displaced persons in Louisiana and Mississippi travel trailer parks.
- Authors: Larrance R, Anastario M, Lawry L
- Issue date: 2007 May
- [Mental Problems, Mood and Anxiety Disorders in The Population Displaced by Violence in Colombia; Results of The National Mental Health Survey 2015].
- Authors: Tamayo Martínez N, Rincón Rodríguez CJ, de Santacruz C, Bautista Bautista N, Collazos J, Gómez-Restrepo C
- Issue date: 2016 Dec
- Prevalence of war-related sexual violence and other human rights abuses among internally displaced persons in Sierra Leone.
- Authors: Amowitz LL, Reis C, Lyons KH, Vann B, Mansaray B, Akinsulure-Smith AM, Taylor L, Iacopino V
- Issue date: 2002 Jan 23-30
- Prevalence of war-related mental health conditions and association with displacement status in postwar Jaffna District, Sri Lanka.
- Authors: Husain F, Anderson M, Lopes Cardozo B, Becknell K, Blanton C, Araki D, Vithana EK
- Issue date: 2011 Aug 3