Estonia’s internal exodus

Some 100 000 of Estonia s 1 3 million residents have been hit by property restitution laws among the most controversial reforms enacted since the Baltic state regained independence in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union The law aims to restore houses to their pre-Second World War owners who had them confiscated by the occupying Soviets from 1940 But the current residents say not enough is being done to compensate them There are some 3 600 holdouts and 42 of them are taking their cases to the European Court of Human Rights An AFPTV report