Georgian PM: number of supporters of UN resolution on IDPs from Russian-occupied regions increasing

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said the number of supporters of the United Nations resolution on internally displaced persons from the country's Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) were “increasing year by year”.

Kobakhidze’s comments followed a decision of the 78th UN General Assembly which on Tuesday adopted a resolution on reiterating the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to the regions after 103 countries voted in support, nine against and 52 abstained.

The number of supporters of the UN resolution is increasing year by year, for this we are especially grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is constantly working to ensure that the resolution related to IDPs has wide support”, he said.

Last year, for the first time, we achieved a triple-digit support for the resolution, and this year we had a record number of 103 countries supporting our resolution”, he added.

The Ministry on Wednesday said the resolution condemned “demographic changes carried out by force” in the regions, affirmed the right of IDPs regardless of ethnicity to return to their homes “with dignity and safety” and emphasised the “need to respect and protect their property rights”.

The document also called on participants of the Geneva International Discussions, a platform used for talks between Georgian agencies and de facto authorities in the occupied regions, to “intensify their efforts” to improve the security and human rights situation in the regions, which it said would facilitate the return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their homes, the body added.

It also said the resolution had “practical implications” in addition to its humanitarian context, as it required the UN Secretary General to prepare an annual report on the situation of the displaced population living in Georgia and the implementation of the resolution.