Chaloka Beyani: Georgia Has Made Progress with IDP Situation

Chaloka Beyani, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), says Georgia has made progress in terms of improving the living conditions of its IDPs.

Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze held a meeting with Beyani, who arrived in Georgia for an official visit on 26 September, 2016.

Janelidze provided him with detailed information on the difficult human rights situation in Georgia’s occupied regions, emphasizing the importance of international monitoring mechanisms for assessing the situation in the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.

The UN Special Rapporteur highlighted the progress Georgia has achieved over the past few years in terms of providing appropriate facilities for IDPs.

“Progress has been made since last year on the issue of housing, also with moving forward with the IDP law,” Beyani said.

Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the international community’s role in safeguarding the universally recognized human rights of refugees and internally displaced persons, which, first of all, implies creating relevant conditions for their safe and dignified return to their places of origin and for the protection of their civil, economic and cultural rights.

According to Beyani, prior to his visit to Georgia he appealed for access to Georgia’s occupied territories but was denied. Within the framework of the visit, he will visit the villages on the occupation line and will meet the local population. He will also head to Zugdidi where he will visit the new settlement of IDPs.

More on the new IDP settlements, including Zugdidi, on page 14.