Preface
Ethnic tensions and conflict have caused significant dislocations of people in the region of the former Soviet Union, both internally and across international borders. The circumstances that give rise to displacements include armed conflicts, human rights violations, economic underdevelopment, environmental degradation, and other failures of governance. In other instances, individuals decide to migrate for more prosaic reasons, such as new perceptions of unease or insecurity (often with ethnic overtones) and fear of future discrimination, or simply because of loss of privilege in new social orders.
The potential for further dislocations in the region is enormous. Approximately 70 million people live outside their nations of ethnic origin, with 25 million Russians living outside the Russian Federation and more than 26 million non-Russians in Russia. While only a portion of this vast number of people is likely to be dislocated at any particular juncture, the displacement of even a small portion could pose significant national security issues in the region.
While the Cold War may be over, solutions remain scarce for persons displaced by the conflicts precipitated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite the emergence of sovereign states, the international community has yet to address adequately a variety of regional responsibilities. The situation is well- illustrated by repatriation of displaced persons in the Republic of Georgia. The unique character of this program of return and the fragile state of peace there will place a premium on appropriate international action.
An examination of the frustrated repatriation program concerning Abkhazia reveals issues which have begun to form a pattern in post-Soviet conflict resolution. A basic dilemma, likely to be encountered again and again, is the attempt to find a durable solution for a displaced population before the underlying political conflict is resolved and the political status of the parties stabilized. The specific arrangements concerning Abkhazia give one party the right to prior review of potential repatriates in this unresolved conflict. There is no effective mechanism for protection or redress for persons deemed security risks and, therefore, barred from return.
Greater attention by the international community is required, including, for example, the deployment of United Nations civilian police forces to monitor and assist indigenous forces in the places of contemplated return. Such an arrangement might build confidence on the part of those considering repatriation and serve to prevent maltreatment of the returning population.
This special report examines the repatriation of displaced persons in the Republic of Georgia, with a particular focus on the return of asylum seekers displaced by armed conflict over Abkhazia. This report specifically discusses arrangements between the contending parties for a formal repatriation program, negotiated with the assistance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The report assesses the prospects for successful repatriation, analyzes the implications of the return program, and offers recommendations for enhancing the protection of the affected populations in this instance as well as similar instances in the future.
This report‹the first in an ongoing series of occasional papers on the complex and growing problems of population displacement in the region of the former Soviet Union‹is based on a mission of inquiry conducted in March 1995 by Kathleen Hunt, a writer and consultant, under the auspices of the Forced Migration Projects of the Open Society Institute. Ms. Hunt, a former Moscow correspondent for National Public Radio, is the principal author of this report.
Research Methods
Ms. Hunt conducted field research in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and the disputed region of Abkhazia. She was in Georgia and Abkhazia from March 2 through March 12, 1995, and in the Russian Federation from February 24 through March 1, 1995. On-site investigations were conducted in the Georgian cities of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Zugdidi. The Gali region and Sukhumi were visited in the disputed Georgian region of Abkhazia. More than forty interviews were conducted with international relief and monitoring officials, local governmental authorities and non-governmental activists, the Russian Peacekeeping Force, residents of Georgia and Abkhazia, as well as internally displaced persons temporarily housed in western Georgia and returnees in Abkhazia. Prior to the field research, Ms. Hunt conducted interviews in the United States and Moscow with representatives of international relief organizations working in Georgia and Abkhazia. Ms. Hunt wishes to thank UNHCR, OSCE, government officials, and the many NGO representatives who helped her during the mission.
Population Statistics
It is extremely difficult to establish absolute accuracy in numbers when analyzing human displacement in Georgia (and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union). In the first place, pre- war population figures are usually based on the last official census carried out by the Soviet authorities in 1989, and since the outbreak of the war, monumental movements have taken place both across and within Abkhazia's border with Russia to the north and Georgia's Mengrelia district to the southeast. In the aftermath of the fighting, thousands of Abkhaz, Russians and Armenians have spontaneously returned from exile as have ethnic Georgians; hundreds continue to move back and forth across these borders every week. Finally, officials from both sides often present differing totals to buttress their respective claims.
