From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

Georgia From Solidarity to Solutions: The Government Response to Internal Displacement in Georgia
In Abkhazia in particular, the de facto authorities have
passed numerous laws and acts that impact the rights
of IDPs and especially returnees regarding “citizenship”
and property registration and transfer of ownership. 87
These laws have no force under international law, which
does not recognize them or the de facto authorities.
Even so, as UNHCR points out, the de facto legislation
does create administrative hurdles for IDPs who want
to return and has the effect of creating “at the very least
a psychological obstacle to IDP return.” 88 In addition,
there have been widespread reports that in the aftermath
of the August 2008 conflict, the de facto authorities in
South Ossetia have imposed requirements (besides preexisting
legislation by which IDPs from Georgia were
classified as “refugees”), such as for notarized translation
of identity cards, for persons to cross the administrative
boundary line adjacent to Akhalgori. At the
same time, the Georgian Law on Occupied Territories
reportedly is invoked by Georgian law enforcement officials
as the legal basis for limiting freedom of movement
toward Akhalgori for both persons and goods (see also
Benchmark 12). 89
6. Develop a National Policy
on Internal Displacement
Has the national government adopted a
policy or plan of action to address internal
displacement?
That the government should adopt a national policy for
addressing internal displacement in accordance with the
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement first was
87 For a summary, see for instance, UN Commission
on Human Rights, Report of the Representative of the
Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally
Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin—Mission to Georgia (21 to
24 December 2005), 24 March 2006, paras. 20, 41 and 48.
88 UNHCR, Gap Analysis, Section 2.2.1, p. 13.
89 Council of Europe, Report on Human Rights Issues
Following the August 2008 Armed Conflict in Georgia, by
Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights,
Strasbourg (7 October 2010), CommDH(2010)40, para.
11.
197
recommended to the government in 2000, during the
mission to Georgia by Francis Deng, Representative of
the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally
Displaced Persons. In particular, the RSG recommended
that the government develop a more comprehensive
approach to durable solutions to displacement that went
beyond simply emphasizing IDPs’ “right to return” to
also improving the living conditions of IDPs in their
current place of displacement and thereby cease viewing
these goals as mutually exclusive. 90 When Deng’s successor,
Walter Kälin, visited the country in 2005, he was
pleased to learn that the government had finally begun
to make plans to draft a national strategy for IDPs in
line with those recommendations. RSG Kälin strongly
encouraged that initiative and recommended that the
national policy be rights-based and comprehensive,
with the aim of supporting IDPs’ integration into society
and access to adequate living arrangements while
maintaining their option to return. Kälin also advocated
that the government consult closely with civil society
groups, including IDPs, in the process of designing the
policy, and that UNHCR and the wider international
community assist the government in its efforts. 91
In February 2006, the State Commission for Elaborating
the State Strategy for Internally Displaced Persons
was established. 92 The commission was chaired by
the Minister of the MRA; other members included
the Ministers of Finance; of Justice; of Economic
Development; of Labor, Health and Social Affairs; of
Education and Science; Agriculture; Civil Integration;
and Reforms Coordination; as well as the Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs and the chair of the Abkhaz
90 UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the
Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally
Displaced Persons, Mr. Francis Deng—Addendum: Profiles
in Displacement: Georgia, 2001.para. 130(iii)-(iv).
91 UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the
Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human
Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin—
Mission to Georgia (21 to 24 December 2005), 24 March
2006, paras.18 and 56-57.
92 Government of Georgia, Decree No. 80, 23 February 2006.