Humanitarian situation of the displaced persons in Georgia
Doc. 7629
6 September 1996REPORT[1]
Rapporteur: Mr ATKINSON, United Kingdom, European Democratic Group
Summary
This report complements the rapporteur's 1995 report on the humanitarian situation of the refugees and displaced persons in Armenia and Azerbaijan (Doc. 7250), which gave rise to the adoption of Resolution 1059 (1995) and Recommendation 1263 (1995). In the light of his visit to Georgia from 29 May to 1 June 1996, the rapporteur describes the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons, mainly ethnic Georgians, who fled the conflicts in South Ossetia in 1991-1992 and in Abkhazia in 1992-1993 involving minority ethnic groups seeking independence from Georgia. Despite cease-fires and agreements providing for the return of the displaced persons, very few have been able to do so. Resolution of this problem awaits progress on political negotiations between the parties. However, prospects for an agreement between the Georgian Government with South Ossetia are better than with Abkhazia, where over 90% of the displaced persons originate.
The rapporteur calls for increased humanitarian aid for the displaced persons, for greater Council of Europe assistance in such areas as the drafting of refugee legislation, and for Georgia to accede to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. He reiterates his earlier recommendation that a unified United Nations agency for the Caucasus should be set up. He also appeals to the Abkhazian separatist authorities to allow the displaced persons to return and all humanitarian agencies to operate unhampered, and to the Russian Government to put its weight behind a negotiated settlement.
I. Draft recommendation
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls and reaffirms its Resolution 1059 (1995) and Recommendation 1236 (1995) on the humanitarian situation of the refugees and displaced persons in Armenia and Azerbaijan, and in particular their references to Georgia.
2. Georgia continues to suffer from grave economic and political dislocation since its independence in 1991. Like Armenia and Azerbaijan it faces the burden of housing and feeding a great many displaced persons arising from ethnic conflicts. The majority of these are ethnic Georgians from Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
3. There are currently between 250,000 and 300,000 displaced persons in Georgia. They are housed in hotels, hospitals, public buildings and with relatives and host families. A Government registration scheme is under way with assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and legislation has been drafted to define the rights and entitlements of displaced persons and refugees. United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been operating in the country since 1992.
4. It is clear that international funding for United Nations programmes is far from adequate. The vast majority of the displaced persons remain unemployed; their living accommodation and conditions, especially for children, are unacceptable; health services are deficient; and there is a rising threat of ethnic tension with the local population.
5. Evidence is growing of "donor fatigue" on the part of the international community towards further funding of humanitarian aid to the Caucasus. In Georgia a particular problem of bread shortage is now threatening as a result of a lack of response to the latest appeal by the World Food Programme and as farmers revert to subsistence farming encouraged by the end of the state subsidy for bread.
6. Despite the cease-fire agreement of 1994 there remains no early prospect of a negotiated political settlement with Abkhazia which would provide for the return home of 200,000 ethnic Georgian displaced persons unless Russia, as the "protecting power" can be persuaded to place greater pressure on the separatist authorities.
7. Moreover, in addition to refusing to allow the peaceful return of the displaced persons, the Abkhaz authorities hamper the operations of the United Nations agencies. It has, however, permitted ICRC access and the establishment of a United Nations/Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (UN/OSCE) human rights monitoring unit.
8. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
i. provide every possible cooperation and assistance to Georgia, now that its Parliament has special guest status with the Assembly, including the drafting of legislation on refugees and displaced persons to take account of international standards and Council of Europe conventions;
ii. firmly insist that the Government of Georgia accede without delay to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol;
iii. invite the member states:
a. to urge the Abkhazian separatist authorities to allow the return home of all displaced persons without threat or hindrance, and to allow the United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organisations to operate without hindrance with a view to providing the displaced persons with the necessary aid and assistance;
b. to maintain and, if possible, increase their generous responses to further appeals for funding humanitarian assistance to Georgia, and especially to the World Food Programme appeal to avert a bread shortage and to UNHCR;
c. to support the implementation of the Programme of Action adopted by the Regional Conference to address the problems of refugees, displaced persons, other forms of involuntary displacement and returnees in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and relevant neighbouring states (Geneva, 30-31 May 1996);
d. to give renewed consideration to the creation of a unified United Nations agency for the Caucasus along the lines of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA);
iv. invite the Russian Government, now that it has accepted obligations as a full member of the Council of Europe, as a matter of urgency, to urge the Abkhazian authorities to accept the considerations in paragraph 8.iii.a. and to promote a negotiated settlement which will encourage reconciliation, reconstruction and a return to stability.
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mr ATKINSON
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
3. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
4. CONCLUSIONS
Map
APPENDIX: Rapporteur's visit
1. Introduction
1. At its meeting in London in March 1995, the Standing Committee adopted Resolution 1059 and Recommendation 1263 on the humanitarian situation of the refugees and displaced persons in Armenia and Azerbaijan. These were based on the Rapporteur's report following fact-finding visits to both countries the previous autumn. The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography subsequently confirmed its wish for a report on the situation in Georgia. This report is based on the Rapporteur's visit from 29 May to 1 June 1996.
2. Georgia is a republic of 5.5 million people situated in the Caucasus between the Russian Federation, Turkey, the Black Sea, Armenia and Azerbaijan. It has suffered extreme economic and political dislocation since it declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, output in 1995 was only 17% of the 1989 level.
3. The principal cause of the current plight of the displaced persons is to be found in the conflicts involving minority ethnic groups seeking outright independence from Georgia in South Ossetia in 1991/92, and Abkhazia in 1992/93. Ceasefires have been in place in both cases since 1994, but the two territories remain in separatist hands. For a more detailed background to the current political situation your Rapporteur recommends the information report of Mr Cummings (Doc. AS/NM (1995) 7) to the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries which recommended special guest status for Georgia.
4. It is clear that a final resolution of the vexed question of displaced persons and their return awaits a peace settlement with Abkhazia.
2. Humanitarian situation
5. Figures for the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) vary from around 250,000 to 300,000[2]. These are mainly (over 90%) ethnic Georgians from Abkhazia, who before the conflict constituted around 40% of the population in this previously autonomous region. A Government registration scheme is currently underway with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The majority are located in Tbilisi (70,000), Kutaisi and Zugdidi. Many are with the families of friends and relatives. The rest are in hotels and public buildings, such as schools and hospitals.
6. There are very few IDPs resulting from the South Ossetian conflict in Georgia. There are 30,000 South Ossetians in North Ossetia, many of whom have little desire to return.
7. There are numerous organisations operating in Georgia, both United Nations agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The European Union through its Humanitarian Office (ECHO), UNHCR, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP), established in the country in 1992, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) all operate a significant and crucial level of aid. UNHCR uses various implementation partners for small business programmes, such as the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Concern was expressed by WFP that food price subsidies were being withdrawn at the same time as the level of food aid donations had decreased, which could develop into a "potential food crisis situation"[3]. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has concentrated its activities on Abkhazia and is, together with M�decins sans Fronti�res (MSF), one of the few agencies allowed by the Abkhazians to operate.
8. Prior to the ceasefire agreement of 14 May 1994 between Georgia and Abkhazia, a Quadripartite Agreement on Voluntary Return of Refugees and Displaced Persons to Abkhazia was signed by Georgia, Abkhazia, the Russian Federation, and UNHCR on 4 April 1994. Under this agreement, all displaced persons have the right to return to their homes without preconditions, with UNHCR handling the registration and return process. However, the Abkhazians, fearful of the political effects of a large scale return of ethnic Georgians, hindered the process by limiting it to 200 returnees per week and by screening returnees, so that the process broke down in November 1994. Only 311 people had been officially repatriated by that time.
9. Given the lack of progress in negotiations concerning the future status of Abkhazia and the organised return of IDPs, and given the expressed wish of the Georgian authorities to make the IDPs less dependent on humanitarian aid, UNHCR will focus its assistance in Georgia on the rehabilitation of shelter and on temporary local integration. UNHCR will also be providing support for local facilities such as schools and hospitals in areas of spontaneous return in the Gali district of Abkhazia, will expand its preventive and monitoring roles and will seek to create conditions for safe return to Abkhazia. There will also be support for spontaneous returnees from North Ossetia to South Ossetia.
3. Recent developments
10. In the Abkhaz section of the 24 kilometre-wide Security Zone created on the cease-fire line under the cease-fire agreement of 14 May 1994, the deployment of the Russian CIS Peacekeeping force and the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) has provided a degree of stability that is not enjoyed by the rest of Abkhazia. Hence there has been a spontaneous return to the Gali area, near the border, of large numbers of IDPs. Estimates are in the region of 35,000 IDPs[4], mainly Mingrelians, one of the Georgian ethnic groups. This degree of security is essential before any large scale return of IDPs, and it is one which the Abkhazian militia are apparently unable to offer.
11. An agreement between the two sides is therefore vital as a prerequisite. This would not necessarily have to be a full-scale political resolution of the problem, merely one which guaranteed the safety of IDPs whilst negotiations continue. There has, however, been little in the way of political progress on Abkhazia. Contact between the two sides has been established, but this has centred mainly on the setting out of positions, and little has been agreed.
12. The Abkhazian separatist leader, Mr Ardzinba, has recently announced his agreement to the setting up of a joint OSCE/UN Office in Sukhumi for human rights monitoring. This acknowledgement of the principle of international monitors can hopefully provide the basis for a degree of security for IDPs, once they are allowed to return.
13. There have been recent meetings and negotiations between the Georgian Government and the South Ossetian authorities. The Georgians are confident of an agreement in the near future. This does not seem to be the case over Abkhazia. Yet in terms of the fate of IDPs, an agreement with Abkhazia is the more urgent.
14. In a speech to the Georgian Parliament on 10 April 1996, the Georgian President, Mr Shevardnadze, outlined the circumstances that originally led to the outbreak of hostilities, attributing blame to both sides. However, he explicitly reserved the right to use military force in the future.
15. Russia's role is clearly extremely important. Georgia has recently signed a 25 year agreement with Russia to allow troops to stay, in return for Russia recognising Georgia's territorial integrity. Russia's active involvement has obviously been limited by the recent Presidential elections.
16. Registration of the IDPs is currently being undertaken by the Georgian authorities, aided on a logistical basis by the UNHCR. It is complicated by the fact that the returnees are unwilling to register as having officially returned to Abkhazia since this means giving up their registration in Georgia (and all the UNHCR and Georgian Government support). The UNHCR programme in Abkhazia halted with the breakdown of the Quadripartite Agreement.
17. The propiska system of residence permits, although constitutionally abolished, apparently continues to be used. It effectively stops IDPs from permanently registering and voting anywhere but in Abkhazia. IDPs are not allowed permanently to set up a place of residence or work; thus they will be, de facto, forced to return eventually.
18. Draft laws on the media and the rights of the IDPs are currently being considered. However, IDPs are still citizens of Georgia, with all the rights of ordinary citizens, and it is not immediately clear why a separate law on IDPs is needed. Clearly it must be ensured that this law is in accordance with the relevant United Nations and Council of Europe Conventions.
19. At the Regional Conference to address the problems of refugees, displaced persons, other forms of involuntary displacement and returnees in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and relevant neighbouring states, held in Geneva on 30-31 May 1996, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) outlined a joint operational strategy designed to build these countries' institutional capacity for dealing with refugees and displaced persons as well as to provide assistance.
20. Among the first priorities of this strategy as it relates to Georgia are that country's accession to the 1951 Geneva Convention and 1967 Protocol and the development of a legal framework relating to refugee issues, including the establishment of a refugee status determination procedure. UNHCR will provide advice and expertise to the Georgian Ministry for Refugees and Resettlement, notably in making the Central and Eastern European Registration of Individual Cases System (CEERICS) fully functional, and will support the IOM programme in migration management.
21. A further UNHCR objective is to help the Georgian Ministry for Refugees and Resettlement to establish a legal framework to allow the return of the formerly deported Meskhetians in Azerbaijan and some regions of the Russian Federation, with access to all the civil rights associated with Georgian citizenship.
4. Conclusions
22. Your Rapporteur concludes that Georgia, and the whole Caucasus region, will be in need of aid and assistance from Europe and the international community for many years to come. Member states should be encouraged to assist the return to stability and huge transformations that are taking place in Georgia under President Shevardnadze, not just in terms of humanitarian aid, but also with advice in such areas as international humanitarian law, so as to ensure that the Georgian Government is fully aware of its obligations now that the Georgian Parliament has Special Guest Status and Georgia has applied for membership of the Council of Europe. Specifically, Georgia should accede without delay to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and the draft law on the rights of internally displaced persons should be delayed to take account of Council of Europe standards.
23. Russia's influence in the region should be more productive now that its Presidential elections are concluded, and more meaningful progress can hopefully be made on a political settlement and a resolution of the problem of the displaced persons.
24. Your Rapporteur looks forward to an agreement between the Georgian Government and the South Ossetians in the near future, which should then concentrate minds on resolving the Abkhazian dispute.
25. The return of the displaced persons has to be handled sensitively and gradually. Both sides accept their eventual return. In the absence of a political settlement, some other mechanism has to exist to guarantee the safety of those returning. An international force of some kind is likely to be essential. As a precursor to this, the Abkhazians' increasing openness to other international agencies is to be warmly welcomed and encouraged.
26. Your Rapporteur reiterates his recommendation, initially outlined Doc. 7250, on the humanitarian situation of the refugees and displaced persons in Armenia and Azerbaijan, that a unified United Nations agency for the Caucasus along the lines of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) should be established, with a regional headquarters in Tbilisi. This recommendation has been criticised for ignoring the role of the United Nations Directorate of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA). However, the attempts by the DHA to co-ordinate the work of the numerous UN agencies have not been successful, and its mandate as the lead agency is not wide enough to reconcile the various competing interests and overlapping areas of competence. This, coupled with the fact that the entire Caucasus region requires a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal approach, is why your Rapporteur strongly reaffirms his belief that adoption of his recommendation would be an extremely positive step forward in improving the humanitarian situation in the entire Caucasus.
27. Your Rapporteur wishes to record his appreciation and thanks to all those who made his fact-finding visit to Georgia possible, especially Mr Bayisa Wak-Woya, the UNHCR Officer-in-Charge, and for the warm welcome he received from those he met including the Georgian authorities. He also wishes to thank Mr Stephen Nash, the United Kingdom Ambassador to Georgia, and Mr Andrew Hull for his help in preparing this report.
Appendix
Rapporteur's visit
Wednesday 29 May 1996
22.30 Met at Tbilisi Airport by Mr Bayisa Wak-Woya, UNHCR Officer-in-Charge. Transfer to the Metechi Hotel.
Thursday 30 May 1996
08.00 Breakfast briefing with Mr Stephen Nash, British Ambassador, on the overall political, economic and social situation in Georgia.
09.00 Briefing with Mr Wak-Woya, UNHCR Legal Officer and Officer-in-Charge, on the humanitarian situation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
10.30 Meeting with Mr Otar Keinashvili, Deputy Minister for Refugees. Separate Ministry was founded in 1992. Registration of the IDPs, funded by UNHCR, was underway and due to be completed by the end of June. New law on the status and rights of IDPs was being considered.
11.45 Meeting with Ms Ada Marshania, Abkhazian Member of Parliament. She is one of ten Abkhazian MPs, elected in the 1990 national elections, and is the only ethnic Abkhazian MP. She agreed that the separatists were "politically blind", but that a special status of autonomy was vital.
13.00 Lunch at the Metechi Hotel, hosted by UNHCR.
15.00 Meeting with Mr John Murray, World Food Proramme (WFP) Regional co-ordinator for the Caucasus, and Country Director for Georgia. WFP is involved in several infrastructure projects to enable food aid to be transported. Whilst the need for food has not decreased, levels of aid have fallen recently, coinciding with the government's deregulation of food prices, creating potentially disastrous consequences.
16.00 Meeting with Mr Irakli Machavariani, Chief Negotiator and Adviser to the President for Conflict Resolution. He has had various meetings with both the Abkhazians and the South Ossetians. He is hopeful of an agreement with the South Ossetians in the near future. Little progress has been made with the Abkhazians, but even the separatists recognise that they cannot have total independence.
18.00 Meeting with Mr Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia. He said that the recent accession of the Georgian Parliament to Special Guest Status with the Council of Europe Assembly was an important milestone for Georgia, and a step towards further integration with Europe. He hopes that the Council of Europe will help by acting as a guarantor of Georgia's sovereignty.
19.30 Meeting with Yves Daccord, Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Georgia. Their activities, now that there are ceasefires in place, are concentrated in Abkhazia. They are one of the only organisations allowed to operate. Gradually more agencies are being allowed access by the Abkhazian authorities, such as M�decins sans Fronti�res (MSF). Their projects in South Ossetia have been handed over to the Red Crescent. He believes that Mr Ardzinba, the Abkhazian separatist leader, realises the displaced persons will have to return eventually, but it will be a slow process.
Friday 31 May 1996
07.30 Departure for Kutaisi to visit UNHCR field sites and projects.
11.00 Meeting in International Rescue Committee office. IRC at as one of the UNHCR's implementing partners.
11.30 Visits to IRC income generation projects, including a carpentry workshop and a shoe factory. These are financed by one-off start-up grants, to provide employment for IDPs, and thereafter are self-financing.
14.00 Lunch hosted by the IRC.
15.00 Visit to United Methodist Committee for Relief (UMCOR) small business development sites, including a pig-breeding and buffalo farm.
15.30 Visit to Khamvali Hotel. This is inhabited by IDP families. It was all but destroyed during the civil war. Electricity and sanitation facilities have been restored by UNHCR.
18.00 Meeting with Mr Teimouraz Tchokhonelidze, Deputy Foreign Minister.
20.00 Dinner with Mr Machavariani and his Chief Conflict Resolution Adviser.
Saturday 1 June 1996
10.00 Departure from hotel for the airport.
Reporting committee: Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.
Origin: Doc. 6891 and Reference No. 1888 of 3 September 1993.
Draft recommendation unanimously adopted by the committee on 29 August 1996.
Members of the committee: Mrs Aguiar (Chairperson), MM. Iwi_ski, Junghanns (Vice-Chairmen), Mr A�ba, Mrs Aguilar (Alternate: Ms Guirado), MM. Akselsen, Andres, �rnason, Mrs Arnold, MM. Attard Montalto, Beaufays, Billing, Bogomolov, van den Bos (Alternate: J�rgens), Branger (Alternate: Jacquat), Mrs Brasseur, MM. Brennan, Caceres, Chyzh, Clerfayt (Alternate: Ghesqui�re), Din�er, Ehrmann, Mrs Fehr (Alternate: Mrs Vermot-Mangold), MM. Feric, Filimonov, Fuhrmann, Mrs Garajov�, MM. Golu, Gotzev, Gross, Sir John Hunt (Alternate: Atkinson), Mrs Johansson, MM. Kalus, Kara_ Roman, Lord Kirkhill, Mr Kukk, Mrs Kušnere, MM. Kyprianou, Laakso, Lauricella, Leitner, Liapis, Loutfi, Lu�s, Makariadhi, M�sz�ros, Micheloyiannis, Rakhansky (Alternate: Mrs Karpachova), Raškinis, Škol_ (Alternate: Pahor), Solonari, Mrs Soutendijk-van Appeldoorn, MM. Trojan, Vangelov, N... (Alternate: Arata).
N.B. The names of those members present at the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Newman, Mr Sich and Mrs Nachilo.
[1]. by the Committee on Migrations, Refugees and Demography
[2]. Independent observers say around 250,000. The Georgian Government uses the 300,000 figure.
[3]. John Murray, Regional Co-ordinator for the Caucasus, WFP.
[4]. UNHCR estimate. See also United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) Discussion Paper on the Gali Returnees, May 1996.