Georgian Occupied Regions Refuse to Re-open so-called Borders
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, January 22
Two Russian-occupied Georgian regions- Abkhazia and Tskhinvali continue to refuse the opening of the so-called border with the rest of Georgia, which particularly complicates life for the local population.
Local civic activist Tamar Mearakishvili, who lives in the occupied Gali area of Tskhinvali, writes that locals are deprived of the right to move and buy things they need on a daily basis.
Many of the locals are even unable to visit doctors in Tbilisi and any other area of the country, Mearakishvili says.
De facto authorities of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali closed the so-called borders on 11 January to “avoid swine flu,” an acute respiratory illness H1N1 which has claimed 18 lives in Georgia so far.
However, there is no epidemic in Georgia and the Georgian government has made the antiviral medicine Tamiflu free of charge.
The Georgian Foreign and Reconciliation Ministers David Zalkaniani and Ketevan Tsikhelashvili have condemned the closure of the so-called borders, which “particularly complicates life for the locals”
Zalkaliani stated that the international community is informed regarding the illegality and the central Georgian government is doing its utmost to achieve the reopening of the so-called borders.
Cases of swine flu have decreased last week in Georgia and as of now, 253 individuals are infected with flu per 100,000.
Abkhazia and Tskhinvali have been recognized as independent states by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
The rest of the international community says that the regions are occupied by Russia.
