Over 200 Palestinians displaced from Gaza have been given apartments in a newly built neighborhood of Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Muslim-majority Chechen Republic, regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov has announced.
A foundation run by Kadyrov’s mother Aymani commissioned the construction of the five apartment buildings, to permanently house refugees welcomed to the Russian region last November.
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“Congratulations to the Palestinian brothers and sisters on finding new comfortable housing! I wish them never to see war again, to live in plenty and prosper!” Kadyrov said in a statement on Friday.
The refugees, who were initially housed in at the Gorny Klyuch children’s resort southeast of Grozny will now move into a ‘cottage community’ in the Visaitovsky District of the Chechen capital, where 209 people will live in 40 new apartments, Kadyrov said.
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According to the Chechen head, construction of the complex took about six months. During this time, 55 of the Palestinians found jobs, while their children and teenagers were placed in schools and universities. All of them have been studying Russian.
“Our immediate plans include the creation of a Palestinian community in the Chechen Republic so that refugees can preserve their national identity,” Kadyrov added.
The buildings were opened in a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, named after Ramzan’s father, who played a key role in ending the decade-long separatist insurgency and reintegrating Chechnya into Russia.
“The Chechen people, like no other, know all the hardships of war. We have all gone through terrible trials, we have seen hunger, cold, and the death of loved ones. Therefore, the grief that befell the Palestinians is very close to us,” Kadyrov said in the announcement.
The vast majority of Chechens are Muslim. Kadyrov has repeatedly voiced his support for the Palestinians in the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Over a million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in Gaza since last October. Following a series of deadly raids by Hamas, in which some 1,200 Israelis died and 250 were taken captive, Israel declared war on the Palestinian militant group. Almost 38,000 Palestinians have died in the subsequent bombing and ground invasion of the enclave, according to the Hamas-run health authorities.