The delegations of the Republic of South Ossetia and the Republic of Abkhazia, following the results of the Geneva discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia, issued a joint statement in which they declare the politicization of the refugee problem by Georgia.
“For several years in a row, Georgia has been submitting to the United Nations General Assembly a draft resolution on refugees and displaced persons from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Repeating from year to year the text of the document, Georgia is trying to impose on the world community a one-sided, politicized and distorted vision of the refugee problem in order to reinforce its illegitimate territorial claims,” the authors of the statement noted.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia have emphasized that the next text of the Resolution on Refugees and Displaced Persons, which does not differ from those adopted earlier, states the confirmation of the right of all IDPs and refugees and their descendants to return “to their homes throughout Georgia, including Abkhazia. and South Ossetia”.
“The authors of the resolution are silent about the fact that the appearance of the mentioned refugees and displaced persons is directly connected with the wars unleashed by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It is also not said that out of more than one hundred thousand Ossetians who fled ethnic cleansing from the territory of Georgia and found refuge in South Ossetia and the Russian Federation, only a few managed to return to their homes,” the statement says.
The authors of the document draw attention to the fact that it is silent that the governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on their own initiative, returned tens of thousands of Georgian refugees to their places of permanent residence.
"The text of the resolution introduced by Georgia not only does not take into account the prevailing political realities, in particular, the fact that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are independent states, but also proves Georgia's complete lack of desire to find a solution to complex humanitarian problems," the document says.
It is quite obvious, it is noted in the statement, that the resolution dragged from year to year by Georgia not only cannot help to improve the situation of refugees from Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but also negatively affects the course of the Geneva discussions, which continue to be the only platform where representatives of South Ossetia , Abkhazia and Georgia have the opportunity to discuss a wide range of existing problems, including the problem of refugees and displaced persons.
“The main key to solving the refugee problem is not diplomatic tricks and resolutions designed for propaganda effect, but a departure from confrontational attitudes and the signing of a legally binding agreement on the refusal to use force, and ultimately - a peace treaty between Georgia, on the one hand, and the Republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia - on the other,” the statement reads.
The politicization of the refugee problem by Georgia, according to the representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, undermines the work on this track in the framework of the Geneva discussions.
“Since Georgia prefers to discuss issues related to the situation of refugees and IDPs in such an authoritative international body as the UN General Assembly, South Ossetia and Abkhazia insist on their right to take part in the discussion of this problem within the walls of the UN. As long as the political games continue around the problem of refugees behind the backs of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, its discussion within the framework of the Geneva discussions will not make any sense,” the statement said.
The next round of the Geneva Discussions is slated for October 12-13, 2021.
