Georgia is trying to impose a unilateral, distorted vision of the refugee problem in order to strengthen its territorial claims,said representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia following the results of the next round of the Geneva discussions.
The joint statement of the delegations of the two countries notes that for several years in a row the UN General Assembly has adopted the draft resolution introduced by Georgia on refugees and displaced persons from Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"Repeating the text of the document year after year, Georgia is trying to impose a unilateral, politicized and distorted vision of the refugee problem to the world community in order to support its illegitimate territorial claims," said diplomats of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
In Tskhinval and Sukhum, it was stressed that the text of the resolution imposed on the international community was silent on the fact that the emergence of refugees was directly related to the wars unleashed by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
"It is not said that of more than one hundred thousand Ossetians who fled ethnic cleansings 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 text of the resolution 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 existing 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 solutions to complex humanitarian problems," the statement says.
The delegations of South Ossetia and Abkhazia drew attention to the fact that the resolution being dragged by Georgia year after year not only cannot contribute to the improvement of 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 an 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 propaganda-designed resolutions, but a departure from confrontational attitudes and the signing of a legally binding agreement on the renunciation of the use of force, and ultimately the peace treaty between Georgia, on the one hand, and the Republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the other", believe South Ossetian and Abkhaz diplomats.
Tskhinval and Sukhum also demanded to give them an opportunity to participate in the discussion of the refugee problem in the UN, stressing that Georgia's politicization of this issue undermines the work on this track in the framework of the Geneva discussions.
"As 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 participate in the discussion of this problem within the UN. As long as political games continue around the refugee issue behind Abkhazia and South Ossetia, discussion of this issue within the framework of the Geneva discussions will not make any sense," the joint statement says.
