30 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps, if any, the Government is taking to help secure an end to the violence in Chechnya; the representations, if any, he has made to the Russian Government regarding the activities of its forces in that region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25502/99]

54 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the protest, if any, he has made regarding Russian attacks on a column of Chechen refugees, one of which resulted in 25 deaths and 70 wounded; if the fact that half the Chechen population have had to flee their homes constitutes ethnic cleansing of the kind which occurred in Kosovo and justified the NATO led war against Yugoslavia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22495/99]

60 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps, if any, he has taken to encourage a peaceful solution to the conflict in Chechnya. [25475/99]

82 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will support some form of economic sanctions against the Russian Federation due to the continued offensive in Chechnya; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25749/99]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 54, 60 and 82 together.

The Government is seriously concerned at the continuing loss of civilian life in Chechnya and the plight of the refugees fleeing from the conflict zone. Russia has been bombing alleged rebel bases in Chechnya since 5 September, has occupied up to half of Chechnya, and has almost encircled the Chechen capital, Grozny. An estimated 350,000 Chechens have been displaced, some 233,000 of whom are now in the neighbouring Russian republic of Ingushetia