GEORGIA: RED CROSS STAFF MEMBER SHARES

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 002017 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: RED CROSS STAFF MEMBER SHARES OBSERVATIONS ABOUT IDPS Classified By: CDA Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Begin Summary and Comment: A Tbilisi-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) staff member shared her observations about IDPs and GoG efforts to address their situation with Poloff during an October 22 meeting. ICRC is currently the only international organizations that has country-wide access or presence; therefore, IDPS have been seeking assistance from ICRC regarding their return. ICRC is usually cautious about sharing information. The surprising openness reflects ICRC's serious concern for the situation of IDPS who live in Gori and about the lost livelihoods of Georgians who previously traveled to Tskhinvali but no longer can. End Summary and Comment. ¶2. (C) Dka Dulic (please protect),ICRC Protection Coordinator, shared with Poloff the following observations with regards to displaced persons as a result of the August hostilities. ICRC has access all over the country including the buffer zone, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. Her staff is international, but does not include any Russians. ¶3. (C) According to Dulic, Georgians (or so it appeared from their names) have been coming to ICRC offices asking for help to cross into South Ossetia. Some of them before lived in Gori and traveled everyday to Tskhinvali for work. Now their jobs and livelihoods are gone as they cannot pass through the checkpoints. ¶4. (C) There is some opinion among ICRC staff members that GoG did not properly consult with IDPs before busing them back to their point of origin. She specifically mentioned a quote in the press from parliamentarian Koba Subeliani (who was named on October 29 as the new Minister of Refugee Affairs),who stated, "Damage to houses are less than what we expected--we expected more damage. It is safe for IDPs to return as Georgian police have taken control over de-occupied areas." She suggested that he issued this statement to give legitimacy to GoG actions to get IDPs out of the camps and back home very quickly. (Comment: Poloff also heard this from a visiting academic, who said the GoG chose not to issue remuneration to families hosting IDPs in order to discourage lengthy stays. End Comment.) ¶5. (C) According to Dulic, when Georgian police were able to return to the former "buffer zone" in undisputed Georgian territory located behind the Russian checkpoints, they arrested any South Ossetians they found there, and some remain in detention. She didn't have specific numbers, but was planning to visit detention facilities to get a better idea. Those IDPs from the Abkhaz war in the 1990s have been very dissatisfied with what they believed was preferential treatment from the government in settling the August 7 IDPs. IDPs from Kodori in the Abkhazia region, estimated to be about 2000 people who were also displaced in August, were particularly bitter about the lack of inclusion in resettlement discussions and actions. LOGSDON