Russian Inuit in land claim

INUVIK, CANADA (Reuter) - Russian Inuit peoples sought help from fellow aboriginal leaders on Thursday to return to the Arctic region from which they were removed 35 years ago by the government of the former Soviet Union. Delegates from the far eastern corner of Russia told a world Inuit conference in northern Canada they had never been happy in their new homes.

They said the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, who has pledged his support for indigenous people, has yet to come through with real help. An Inuit leader described how they had to abandon their villages in 1957 under orders from a Soviet government intent on industrialising the area, leaving their homes to crumble.