Following an announcement by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the construction of five buildings with 35 apartments each has begun in Chechnya's capital Grozny, with the aim of accommodating Palestinians who are fleeing the ongoing Israel-Hamas War from the Gaza Strip. So far, Russia has received around 1,200 Gazan refugees, some of whom have even obtained Russian citizenship.
Chechnya, a Russian republic in the Caucasus with approximately 1.5 million residents - predominantly Muslims - is promoting the establishment of a "Palestinian village" to absorb Gaza refugees who fled their homes due to the war and managed to leave the Strip.
The planned village, located in Grozny, will consist of residential buildings with a total of 35 apartments each. The planned housing area will cover approximately 4,200 square meters. The houses will be situated in the Vizaitovskiy district of Grozny, near a school and a kindergarten.
Ramzan Kadyrov: Our Palestinian brothers will adapt to life here
During the ceremony marking the groundbreaking for the construction of the future settlement, the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, participated along with Palestinian refugees.
"We will continue actively promoting the adaptation of our Palestinian brothers to life in the Chechen Republic, including their employment," stated Kadyrov in his speech.
The funding for the construction of the village will be provided by the regional public foundation named after Akhmad Kadyrov, father of the incumbent president, who was himself president of Chechnya before his assassination in 2004 by Chechen Islamists. Some 100,000 Russian roubles ($1,200) have been allocated by the foundation for each Palestinian family.
"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.
According to Alex Tancer, a former chairman of the Follow-up Committee for Immigrant Promise Fulfillment, "Russia has received 1,124 refugees from Gaza, almost all of whom arrived in areas with a Muslim population. Families without Russian citizenship, most of them children, received passports and Russian citizenship. Even in other areas, the Russian media reports that Gazan refugees have been provided with warm homes and good care, including learning the Russian language and arranging work and studies at local universities."