Georgia and Russia: the humanitarian situation in the conflict- and war-affected areas
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 23 January 2013 (5th Sitting) (see Doc. 13083, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Ms Acketoft). Text adopted
by the Assembly on 23 January 2013 (5th Sitting).See
also Recommendation 2008
(2013).
- Thesaurus
1. Over four years after the war between
Georgia and Russia in 2008, the humanitarian consequences of the
conflict remain a major concern.
2. While the emergency needs of internally displaced persons
(IDPs) and refugees have been largely taken care of, there is a
slow but sure freezing of the conflict as people’s lives are being
trumped by politics. This makes progress on the humanitarian front
difficult.
3. The preoccupation on all sides with status issues, access
across the administrative boundary line (ABL) and terminology issues
poisons the possibility of progress on the humanitarian front. These
issues are political in nature and should be secondary and not primary
in any humanitarian discussion. Recent political changes in Georgia
following the elections on 1 October 2012 provide an opportunity
for a continued commitment to dialogue that respects the relevant
resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly.
4. One of the most important humanitarian issues is the right
to voluntary return in safety and dignity for internally displaced
persons and refugees. In reality, this right is largely ignored
for most IDPs, although there are exceptions, to a certain extent,
for those in the areas of Gali and Akhalgori. It is important that
avenues for return of all IDPs remain open, even if this needs to
be on a step-by-step basis, and that the right of all displaced persons
to voluntary return in safety and in dignity is respected in accordance
with international law.
5. In terms of security, the situation remains tense, particularly
for those close to the ABL, but not at the level which led to the
2008 war. A large Russian military presence, both in Abkhazia, Georgia
and South Ossetia, Georgia, is seen in contradictory ways. On the
one side, it is seen by Georgia and most of the international community
as an occupation of part of the country by the troops of a neighbouring
country.On the other, it is seen by the Russian Federation and the de facto authorities as a guarantee
against renewal of the conflict. What is needed to restore security
and long-term trust is not armies facing each other along the ABL, but
a strong, non-partisan international peacekeeping and monitoring
presence on both sides of the line.
6. The greatest humanitarian challenge facing the Georgian Government
is the provision of durable housing solutions and livelihoods for
IDPs. While the government is to be congratulated on many of its
efforts in this area, many challenges remain, in particular in relation
to the housing of IDPs in collective centres, private housing and
even those rehoused, after 2008, in temporary settlements across
the country.
7. The Assembly is concerned by the situation of ethnic Georgians
in the areas of Gali and Akhalgori. While these two areas are different,
the issues affecting the local population are similar. Crossing
the ABL for family, economic, health, education or other purposes
remains problematic and uncertain. There are some positive indications
that travel across the ABL could be improved through more flexible
arrangements and additional crossing points, but for the moment
there are no guarantees that this will happen. The Assembly is also concerned
by issues concerning identity and registration documents, which
govern not only travel but access to a whole range of rights, including
property rights. Furthermore, it is concerned by approaches that
hinder, rather than favour, mother tongue education. The Assembly,
while focusing in this resolution on humanitarian issues, recalls
the political stance it has taken in its
Resolution 1633 (2008) on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia
and its follow up
Resolution
1683 (2009).
8. In order to improve the humanitarian situation, the Assembly
calls on Georgia, Russia and the
de facto authorities
in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali to:
8.1 take
fully into account and implement the recommendations of the Assembly
contained in
Resolutions
1648 (2009) and
1664
(2009) on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia
and Russia;
8.2 work intensively on resolving security issues under the
first working group of the Geneva International Discussions, and
grant full and unimpeded access to the European Monitoring Mission
in Georgia (EUMM) to the former conflict zones that are now occupied
and, furthermore, work in good faith on an international peacekeeping
arrangement to avoid the volatile situation of armies facing each
other in the conflict areas;
8.3 support fully the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism
(IPRM) in the format agreed at the Geneva International Discussions,
and ensure that the mechanism covering the region of Abkhazia renews
its work in the previously agreed format, as a matter of urgency;
8.4 ensure the voluntary return of all displaced persons in
safety and in dignity, in accordance with international law;
8.5 ensure the safety and security of all the people in the
region, and in particular IDP returnees, taking firm action against
criminality, including racketeering, bribery and forced labour;
8.6 tackle the issue of violence against women linked to the
consequences of the war and raise awareness of the problem, drawing
on the expertise and assistance available from the Council of Europe;
8.7 ensure freedom of movement across the ABL to enable economic
recovery and improve the livelihoods of the local population, including
by opening additional crossing points and removing administrative
restrictions;
8.8 cater for the basic needs of the local population, including
in terms of health care;
8.9 uphold the right to mother tongue education, in particular,
but not limited to, Georgian speakers in the areas of Gali and Akhalgori,
and guarantee freedom of movement across the ABL for education purposes;
8.10 co-operate fully in the work on missing persons, including
the collection of ante-mortem data and information on the possible
whereabouts of missing persons, and also the exhumation and return
of bodies and the provision of psychological assistance to families;
8.11 set up an international investigation to examine allegations
of damage to cultural heritage monuments in the conflict regions;
8.12 facilitate a visit by the Assembly rapporteur to the Tskhinvali
and Akhalgori areas.
9. The Assembly encourages the Georgian authorities to continue
their efforts to tackle the humanitarian needs of IDPs, and in particular
to:
9.1 provide durable housing
solutions, in particular covering the needs of persons in private accommodation,
rehabilitating or closing some of the collective centres, privatising
new settlements once construction defects have been dealt with and
providing monetary compensation in lieu of housing where appropriate;
9.2 in so far as further evictions of IDPs are necessary,
ensure that they take place in accordance with the agreed standard
operating procedures, that persons are fully informed and notified
of these in advance and that, if appropriate, suitable alternative
accommodation is provided;
9.3 focus more on ensuring an adequate livelihood for IDPs,
in particular for those in new settlements, in order to break the
cycle of dependency and prevent these settlements becoming IDP ghettos;
9.4 review the “Action plan for engagement” under the “State
strategy on occupied territories” in order to ensure that it achieves
its goal of encouraging reintegration.
10. The Assembly invites the Russian authorities to:
10.1 fully implement the ceasefire
agreement brokered by the European Union;
10.2 make every effort to resolve the critical housing situation
of many ethnic Ossetian refugees, primarily from the conflicts in
Georgia in the early 1990s, but also from the 2008 conflict, making
full use of federal, regional or international funding, as proposed
in Assembly
Resolution
1879 (2012) on the situation of IDPs and returnees in the North
Caucasus region;
10.3 regularise the situation of those who fled to Russia after
the earlier conflicts in Georgia and who are living in an irregular
situation, and who are in some instances stateless.
11. The Assembly calls on the European Court of Human Rights to
expedite the hearing of the inter-state case of Georgia v. Russia (Application No.
38263/08) which is before the Grand Chamber.
