Abkhazia: Solution to Refugee Situation Requires Sokhum Input
Abkhaz Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Chirikba, has criticised Tbilisi’s position on the issue of Georgian refugees as an attempt to dictate policy with an inappropriate solution to the problem, reiterating that Abkhazia has to be part of discussions.
Below is an article published by Vestnik Kavkaza:
Georgia is trying to dictate to Abkhazia an inappropriate solution to the problem with refugees, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Chirikba said at a meeting with Daniel Andres, a member of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Interfax reports.
The problem with Georgian refugees cannot be resolved without Abkhaz involvement, the ministry says. The UN General Assembly passed several resolutions to return refugees, but neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia were invited to negotiate the issue. Thus, Abkhazia abandoned the Geneva discussions, Chirikba notes.
He characterized contacts of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and Abkhazia since the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 was fruitful. Georgia canceled the agreement on return of refugees, signed in 1994. The problem was discussed within the framework of the Geneva discussions by the second working group for security and stability in Trans-Caucasus.
