In Kurchaloi, announcement of house demolition lead to a massive eviction of people

Kurchaloi is not the first settlement in Chechnya, where people are being evicted from the centre because of reconstruction, reported an official of the district administration. He refused to mention the dates for the start of construction of new houses for them. Local residents complained about the inconvenience in connection with the forced relocation to their relatives' places. 

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 9, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" reported that on February 5, the authorities announced to residents of Kurchaloi about the planned demolition of 37 private houses in five streets for the construction of a shopping centre. The number of the houses to be demolished includes a family home of Oyub Titiev, an arrested rights defender. 

Residents were ordered to leave their houses within a week, and officials promised to provide them with some kind of housing in the uncertain future, rights defenders reported. 

"Last week they held a meeting and reported that they would demolish houses in Kadyrov Street and several other adjacent streets. We were simply faced with the fact and given a week to take out the property and find a place of temporary residence," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a resident of Kurchaloi who preferred to remain anonymous. 

Forced relocation to relatives caused inconvenience to family members, reported a local woman who also preferred to remain anonymous. "We have so far decided to temporarily stay with my husband's relatives on the outskirts of Kurchaloi, since there is a small outhouse there. Children now have a big problem with the school, since they have to get through half the village, and we will have to transport them to the school and bring them back," the woman told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.