OSCE Chairmanship highlights importance of freedom of movement in areas affected by 2008 conflict in Georgia

GENEVA, 29 March 2012 – Speaking today at the 19th round of the Geneva International Discussions, Pádraig Murphy, the OSCE Chairmanship’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus, appealed to the participants to urgently address the problems faced by refugees and internally displaced populations.

In a joint statement with the other two co-chairs the Geneva Discussions, EU Special Representative Philippe Lefort and UN Special Representative Antti Turunen, Murphy assessed the security situation as stable.

Welcoming the constructive approach that has been demonstrated at meetings of the Ergneti/Dvani Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), Murphy said: “We continue to operate on the understanding that local residents should not be detained for crossing the administrative lines and if detained, they should be released immediately. I welcome the fact that so far this informal agreement has been respected.”

“Important steps that can improve the lives of the affected communities include projects to provide water. The OSCE project to repair the Zonkari dam is now completed and we are working closely with the EU on a set of new projects that will shortly be put in place.”

The Geneva International Discussions take place in two parallel working groups. One group deals with security and stability, and the other with humanitarian questions, including internally displaced persons and refugees.

The co-chairs agreed with the participants that the next meeting will be held in Geneva on 7-8 June 2012.