EU expresses fear over aid access in Georgia
HONOR MAHONY
15.08.2008 @ 09:28 CET
Aid workers in Georgia are not getting the access they need in spite of the truce between Moscow and Tbilisi, the European Commission has warned.
"The cessation of hostilities announced by Moscow has not yet reflected particularly into any improvement in terms of access for humanitarian aid workers," a commission spokesperson said Thursday (14 August).
Georgia - some 90,000 people are thought to be displaced following the fighting (Photo: wikipedia)
The commission called on all sides to allow aid workers to have access to victims of the five-day war in the Russian-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia, where the fighting started, as well as elsewhere in Georgia.
"We appeal to all sides when we address humanitarian issues," said the spokesperson.
He added that aid was needed particularly in the camps set up for the people driven from their homes by the fighting - estimated at around 90,000. The camps are said to "lack the minimum basics."
The statement from Brussels echoed those of United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon.
"The secretary general is extremely concerned by the impact of the recent conflict on the civilian population in Georgia, which has suffered loss of life and injury, significant damage to civilian property and infrastructure, as well as sizeable displacement," he said in a statement.
He reiterated "the critical importance of safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian actors to all conflict-affected areas."
Aid agencies themselves have also complained about the lack of access as money and aid come in from the EU (€1 million in aid), the US (two cargo planes with €1.3 million worth of supplies) and many individual European countries.
"The authorities in principle are ready to give us access but we are being told that there are ongoing security concerns," said spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Anna Nelson, according to AFP news agency.
The criticism about humanitarian access comes amid accusations that Russia has used cluster bombs - each cluster is made of smaller bombs greatly increasing the likelihood of injuries over a wider zone - in civilian areas.
Human Rights Watch says it has evidence that Russian aircraft dropped used the weapons, banned by over 100 countries for being dangerous to civilians, in populated areas in Georgia killing at least 11 civilians, including a Dutch journalist.
International mediation
As concerns about the humanitarian situation grow, the political shuttling back and forth continues.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is due in the Georgian capital on Friday (15 August). She will bring the formal ceasefire document - negotiated by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev - for Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili to sign.
However, on Thursday, Russia made it clear it does not intend to back down from its strongholds in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
"One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the logic that they can be forced back into the Georgian state," said Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, according to the Press Association.
Mr Medvedev also held talks in Moscow with separatist leaders from the two provinces amid reports that Russian military activity is continuing in Georgia.
Meanwhile, German chancellor Angela Merkel will enter the political fray over the weekend with a visit to Tbilisi on Sunday.
Germany, along with France, has so far been keen not to openly take sides in the Russia-Georgia conflict, suggesting that both parties hold responsibility for the outbreak in fighting. By contrast, the US has strongly condemned Russia's actions.