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