On the resolution adopted at the 67th plenary session of the UN General Assembly
On 13 June 2013 resolution of Georgia on refugees and temporary displaced people from Abkhazia and South Ossetia was adopted. Similar resolutions were adopted by the UN General Assembly for five years in a row, all of them are of nonbinding character.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of South Ossetia has stated a number of times that those resolutions have a one-sided politically committed approach that has nothing to do with the actual state of things and concerns with the fate of the refugees. In the text of the resolution, adopted at the 67th UN General Assembly session, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are referred as parts of Georgia which contradicts with the reality. Unless South Ossetia and Abkhazia are recognized as independent entities there is no ground for solving the humanitarian issues including return of refugees.
Unfortunately the authors of the resolution and the countries that supported it, proceed from the one-sided position of Georgia and do not consider thousands of ethnic Ossetians that fled Georgia because of their ethnicity. In reality the resolution, that was supposed to be of humanitarian character, is based on the policy of double standards. It is obvious that this type of approach is counterproductive. The document cannot be impartial as South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not able to present their positions to the UN General Assembly. Politicization of the refugee problem by Georgia makes senseless further discussions in the frame of Geneva discussions and hampers solution of this complicated issue.
Position of South Ossetia remains unchanged — observance of all the norms of the International Law and consistent approach to solving the problems, considering positions and opinions of all the sides, taking into account all the displaced people, including ethnic Ossetians from 1992 and earlier, victims of Georgian aggression against South Ossetia and persecution of ethnic Ossetians in Georgia.
Tskhinval, 14 June 2013