UN's adoption of Georgian resolution on refugees renders Geneva discussion in this issue meaningless - S. Ossetian presidential envoy
TSKHINVAL. June 18 (Interfax) - A re-adopted United Nations resolution on the situation surrounding refugees and forcibly displaced persons from South Ossetia and Abkhazia is clearly politicized and reflects the attitude of the Georgian side alone towards the resolution of refugees' issue, South Ossetian Presidential Envoy Murat Dzhioyev said.
"The aim of the Georgian authorities introducing this resolution is to emphasize that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are allegedly parts of Georgia, as well as to increase the number of countries voting for this resolution annually at least by one," Dzhioyev told Interfax on Monday.
In reality, this resolution does not help to resolve refugees' issues, he said.
"On the contrary, by introducing it to the United Nations, where South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not represented, the Georgian authorities ensured that this issue cannot be considered at the Geneva discussions on security in the South Caucasus, although this was envisaged under the mandate and it even had been discussed in the first years. Because the Georgians politicize this issue, South Ossetia and Abkhazia believe there is no point in discussing this issue in such an environment," Dzhioyev said.
The refugees issue is extremely relevant, because over 100,000 Ossetians were displaced from South Ossetia and Georgia, and it is an issue, which remains unresolved, he said.
"South Ossetia and Abkhazia are ready to participate in discussion of the resolution of refugees' issues at any venues, where we are represented," Dzhioyev said.
In this case, this UN resolution, which has been adopted annually since 2009, only hinders resolving issues of refugees, he said.
Last week, the UN General Assembly once again adopted the Georgia-sponsored resolution on the situation surrounding refugees and forcibly displaced persons from South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Representatives of 81 countries voted for the document, while 16 voted against and 62 abstained from voting.