Mother unable to mourn deceased son as ‘checkpoint’ to Georgia’s occupied Akhalgori remains closed
The so-called checkpoint to Akhagori district has been closed since September 4. Photo: Radio Liberty/Free Europe.
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A mother living in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district was not allowed to leave the territory for several days to mourn her son who died in the Tserovani settlement, on Tbilisi-administered territory.
The story caused public turmoil on social media, with the mother permitted to leave Akhalgori only late yesterday [while the young man died on September 22], Radio Liberty reports.
Local activists Tamar Mearakishvili and Temur Tskhurbati say that the humanitarian situation is getting worse in the district day after day as the so-called checkpoint has been closed since September 4 ‘due to security threats’ cited by de facto government of Tskhinvali.
242 locals have gathered signatures and addressed the de facto leadership to reopen the “checkpoint,” receiving no answer.
We live in continued stress. Food is getting more and more expensive. We do not know when the captivity will be over. This is nothing more than vandalism and sadism,”Tskhurbati told the Radio Liberty.
Mearakishvili and Tskhurbati say that locals, who are deprived of free movement, are unable to buy everyday products, have no access to vital medicines [especially cancer patients] and quality healthcare.
They say that students studying at the universities in Tbilisi and the teachers who travel to the region from the village of Tserovani are also “captive” in the district.
Two crossing points at Tskhinvali occupation line - Odzisi and Sinaguri - have been closed since September 4.
The central Georgian government, the US Embassy to Georgia and the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) say that the closure of the so-called border further complicates the situation on the ground and creates severe humanitarian problems.
The situation became tense on the ground at the end of August when Russian-occupied Tskhinvali protested the opening of an ordinary police post in the village of Chorchana, Khashuri municipality, on Tbilisi administered territory, citing ‘security threats to locals.’
After Tbilisi refused to remove the post the occupying forces constructed two new “police posts” on Tbilisi-administered territory, near the village of Tsnelisi, Kareli municipality [bordering Chorchana] and closed the so-called border with Akhalgori district.
Georgian Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has stated in parliament earlier today that at the moment she was delivering a speech in parliament, Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region was “was almost fully isolated” from the rest of Georgia.
The US Government has plans to provide $500,000 to fund new enterprises in the Georgian villages along the Russian-occupied territories, the US embassy to Georgia has reported. "Residents along the occupation line need special support,” the embassy said
Tbilisi has condemned the ‘temporary closure’ of a so-called checkpoint at the village of Perevi in western Georgia by the de facto government of Georgia’ Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region, saying that such steps not only violate the right of locals to free movement, but also create a humanitarian crisis.
The US is concerned by the current tension at the Tskhinvali occupation line and the closure of so-called borders which further complicates the situation on the ground and creates serious humanitarian problems, Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood said.
Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) to Georgia Erik Hoeg has briefed the Political and Security Committee (PSC) ambassadors from EU member states on the recent developments at the occupation line with Georgia’s currently Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (so-called South Ossetia) region in Brussels.
The US McCain Institute for International Leadership in cooperation with the Heritage Foundation and the Economic Policy Research Center has created two video visualisations showing Russia’s policy of ‘borderisation’ [erection of illegal barriers, barbed-wire-fences] in the two occupied regions of Georgia Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.
The armed forces of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region have been put in combat mode for “educational purposes,” Sputnik Ossetia reports. The agency says that it is the decision of the so-called Ministry of Defence of the region.
The Russian-controlled de facto Tskhinvali region of Georgia has announced a ‘temporarily closure’ of the only, Kartsmani crossing point with the rest of Georgia ‘due to increased security threats in New Year days.’
Civic activist Tamar Mearakishvili, who lives in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district, says that up to 10 people in the area have died due to delayed medical aid or other reasons related to the illegal closure of crossing points between breakaway Tskhinvali and the rest of Georgia 131 days ago.
Georgian civic activist Tamar Mearakishvili, who lives in Georgia’s Russian-controlled Akhalgori district, has released the photos of Akhalgori, with no people walking on the streets and lights rarely coming from windows.Mearakishvili, who is politically persecuted by de facto authorities of Tskhinvali, says that many people have left the district since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, when Russia expanded its control on Akhalgori.
People in Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region don’t have access to vitally important healthcare services as the region has been in isolation for months, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili stated earlier today.
Residents of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district are prohibited not only from moving to the central government-controlled territory and receiving quality medical services there, but also from receiving scheduled services at the Akhalgori local hospital, reports Democracy Research Institute NGO (DRI).
Jumber Miladze, 63, has died while being transported to a hospital on Tbilisi-controlled territory from the Akhalgori district of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region earlier today, IPN reports.
40-year old Gela Gariev has died in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, as local doctors could not diagnose his medical problem and offer him appropriate care, reports RFE/RL.
A 68-year-old doctor has died of coronavirus in the Russia-occupied Akhalgori district. Onise Gatenashvili was a surgeon at the Akhalgori hospital. His family requested he be sent to Tbilisi for treatment when he tested positive for COVID-19.
The de facto authorities of the Russian-occupied Akhalgori municipality in central Georgia have opened crossings to the location over the administrative boundary line separating Georgian-controlled territory from the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, Interpressnews reported on Thursday.