The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in support of the rights of refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia

Yesterday the UN General Assembly discussed the issue "on the protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development." Participants in the meeting approved a resolution entitled "Status of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and Tskhinvali district / South Ossetia, Georgia."

     “The General Assembly recognizes the right of return of all internally displaced persons and refugees and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity, to their homes throughout Georgia, including Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region / South Ossetia,” the adopted document reads.

     The resolution stresses the need to respect the property rights of all internally displaced persons and refugees affected by the conflicts in Georgia, and to refrain from purchasing property in violation of these rights.

     The resolution reaffirms the unacceptability of forced demographic changes.

     At the same meeting, the Assembly supported the report of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the "Status of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and Tskhinvali district / South Ossetia, Georgia."

    It is reported that more than 100,000 people who find themselves in the position of the displaced during the conflict in 2008, returned to their homes. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that about 34,000 people that have returned to these adjacent areas are still almost in the position of the internally displaced and in need of some special measures of protection.

     The report, with reference to the Georgian government, says that at the end of March 2012 there were 265,295 internally displaced persons. At the end of 2010 the figure was 256,528 people. The increase is mainly due to the birth of children at IDPs, the return of displaced persons to Georgia from third countries and the late registration. The number of internal refugees is 242,592 people displaced during the earlier conflicts, 18,789 people displaced during the conflict in August 2008, and 3,914 people displaced twice. -02D-