UNPO Resolution on the Issue of the Repatriation of Deported Abkhaz during the Russian Caucasian War and the Legitimacy of the regime Sanctions against Abkhazia

UNPO Resolution on the Issue of the Repatriation of Deported Abkhaz during the Russian Caucasian War and the Legitimacy of the regime Sanctions against Abkhazia

Resolution adopted by the VII General Assembly of the UNPO on 26 June 2005

Having met at the 7th UNPO General Assembly in The Hague, the Netherlands, 24 to 26 June 2005,

And having reviewed historical background when in the second part of the XIX century as a result of the Russian-Circassian War and the Russian-Turkish War, the majority of Abkhaz-Abaza and Circassians had to flee out of their historical motherland. And as a result of the discriminatory and occupational policy of Russian Empire, the North-Western and Central parts of Abkhazia were emptied, as well as indigenous Circassian territories in Northern Caucasus. Together with Abkhaz and Adyg (Circassasians: Shapsygs, Kabardinians, Adygs, Ubykhs) the Abazins who lived in the Northern Caucasus were deported.

Understanding that the realities that have changed over the course of history- such as the collapse of the Russian Empire and events in the recent history of Abkhazia (the disintegration of Soviet Union and the Georgian-Abkhaz War) – make it absolutely useless to deny Abkhaz-Abazas and Circassians the right to repatriation.

Whereas the policy preventing deported Abkhaz to return to their Motherland cannot be based on the Old Russian order of Tsar Alexander II who said: “There is nothing that should be said about the return”,

And whereas the rest of Abkhaz people were blamed as “guilty” and labeled the “temporary” population of Abkhazia, deprived of the right to settle at the coastal part of Abkhazia

Despite the policy of assimilation and discrimination conducted by the Russian Empire and then by the Soviet Union and by Georgia in particular, the problem of deported Abkhaz and Circassians is still a vital issue and, more so, plays a key role in establishing stability in the Caucasus today.

Agreeing that this historic mistake is at the core of numerous conflicts in the Caucasus

Recognizing that ethnic imbalance caused the rise of imperialistic ambitions in Georgia towards the population of Abkhazia which then escalated into a severe war between Georgia and Abkhazia.

Acknowledging that in the framework of the present negotiation process between Georgia and Abkhazia that is currently under the aegis of the United Nations, the issue of the return of Georgian refugees back to indigenous Abkhaz lands is of higher priority than the return of deported Abkhaz from Turkey, Germany, USA and other countries back to their motherland, although the ethnic imbalance in Abkhazia and the recent conflict was the result of organized deportation and discrimination of the Abkhaz people.

The UNPO in its VII General Assembly

1. Calls upon the International Community to fully recognize the genocide of Abkhaz-Abaza and Circassian people and to promote the establishment of the legal norms and frameworks to facilitate the return of deported Abkhaz back to their motherland or provide them with their right to return.
2. Calls upon the UNHCR, the UN, the OSCE and the European Union to recognize the refugee status of the deported Abkhaz-Abaza people and to facilitate the process of their return to Abkhazia as well as to review the legal basis of the regime of sanctions against Abkhazia.

Source: UNPO

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