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UN MISSION TRAVELS TO GEORGIA
TO ASSESS HUMANITARIAN CONDITIONS, BY CAROLINE PATTON:
16/09/2008
(MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 16
September 2008 -- With
the number of internally displaced Georgians now estimated by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at around 192,000 people, a team representing
a number of important UN agencies has been dispatched to evaluate the situation
among those negatively impacted by the recent fighting between
Georgia
and
Russia
.
Among
those included in the mission will be
members of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
UNHCR, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the
World Health Organization (WHO) and the
World Food Programme (WFP), and the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The
UN hopes to use the trip to “gain
first-hand knowledge of the humanitarian and
human rights situations and needs on the
ground, including the position of those
displaced by the conflict and other
vulnerable groups.” The time is scheduled
to arrive tomorrow and will end on Saturday.
In addition to South Ossetia and
Tbilisi
, they will go to
Moscow
.
Depending
on what they find, the UN may alter the
amount of funds it has requested for dealing
with the aftermath of the fighting. On 18
August it asked for $59 million. The
Secretary-General has said that a wider
fact-finding mission, to be led by the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) along with representatives
from other UN afencies, may be sent to
Georgia
soon.
Aid
operations are continuing in
Georgia
. The UNHCR has just been able to reach an
area north of Gori known as the “buffer
zone” and is providing help to the
thousands who have taken refuge there.
William Spindler of UNHCR said that “These
first UN missions are an important step in
achieving full access.” The agency plans
to continue initiatives in this part of the
country.
Mr.
Spindler explained that in the towns visited
by UNHCR so far, many resident have come
back but “[t]here is still a great deal of
fear among the people currently residing in
these villages” in which, “[b]eatings,
looting and arson by marauding militias have
created an atmosphere of fear and
insecurity.” The percentage who are back
home also vary dramatically, reaching 80
percent near the edge of the buffer zone but
falling short of 10 percent further into the
area. There is not medical treatment closer
than Gori.
Encouragingly,
property damage is less than expected, only
a few have been rendered unusable, but also
is not consistent among town, with some
harder hit than others. About 70 to 80
percent of crops is reported to have been
destroyed or taken and farmers cannot tend
to crops because of mines and live explosive
in the soil. There is also no fuel for
preparing food or keeping warm due to damage
to the pipeline in the area and so wood is
being substituted, driving its cost up 50
percent.
UNHCR
has told the international community, “The
first assessments show that returnees to the
villages in the buffer zone need
rehabilitation and reconstruction assistance
and the provision of supplementary food
items and firewood.”
The
new estimate of 192,000 displaced is a rise
from 158,000 estimated last month and UNHCR
says about 127,000 are displaced in the main
part of Georgia and 30,000 in South Ossetia,
while 35,000 crossed the border into Russian
territory and are in North Ossetia.
Spokesman
Ron Redmond commented that, “Of the
127,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs)
in
Georgia
, 68,000 have since returned home” and
“UNHCR and the Georgian Government
estimate that another 5,000 will go home
before the onset of winter, bringing up the
number of returnees to 73,000.” He went on
to explain that “However, the remaining
31,000 individuals are not expected to
return in the foreseeable future” and
another 23,000 will also continue to need
help until next spring when they can
reconstruct their homes.
Ban
Ki-Moon has also urged the extension of the
UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG),
which is to end on 15 October, arguing that
"it would be absolutely necessary that
we continue to discharge our mission there,
observation, as well as providing
humanitarian assistance."
Also
on the same day, representatives of nations
around the world will meet in
Geneva
to discuss the future of
Georgia
.
--- Caroline
Patton
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