Georgians still displaced by war

Around 30,000 people forced from their homes by last year's war between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia are still displaced.

Amnesty International said most were ethnic Georgians, who even now lacked basic services and suffered hardship. Friday marks the first anniversary of the start of the five-day conflict in which Russia defeated the Georgians who sent their troops into South Ossetia.

Vigils will be held across the area as people remember the hundreds who died. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is due to address the nation following a day of ceremonies, including a nationwide day of silence.
Earlier, bonfires were lit across the country at midnight local time.

'Omnipresent sports'
In a new report published a year after the beginning of the conflict, Amnesty International said it had found that 30,000 civilians from both sides were still unable to return to their homes.

Bonfires were lit in Georgia at midnight to mark the anniversary of the war A total of nearly 200,000 were displaced by the fighting. Of the 38,500 people who fled South Ossetia for Russia, all but 4,000 were thought to have been returned, the human rights group said.

A further 138,000 ethnic Georgians were displaced by the fighting, but 18,500 who fled South Ossetia and the district of Akhalgori remain displaced. Most have been provided with compensation or temporary accommodation, as well as basic furniture and facilities.
However, their biggest problems remained the remoteness of some of the settlements, which deprived the inhabitants of easy access to hospitals, schools and places of work, Amnesty said. Many people are still dependent on aid.

"An omnipresent sense of tension and insecurity prevent many people from returning to their homes and carrying on with their lives," Amnesty said in a statement. "Many of the people who have returned are facing a new reality brought about by the conflict, a reality in which they struggle to rebuild their lives and livelihoods," it added.

Blame game
On Thursday, Georgia's government repeated its claim that its assault on South Ossetia was a response to a secret Russian invasion.

Russia denied it was first to move, and accused the Georgian government of "a pre-planned criminal act".

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Tskhinvali says the causes of the war last August remain a hotly contested issue, with both Russia and Georgia continuing to blame each other.
Much of the South Ossetian capital is still in ruins But many diplomats believe Mr Saakashvili acted rashly, walking into a trap laid by the Russians. Tensions had been rising ever since Mr Saakashvili came to power five years ago determined to move Georgia out of the Russian sphere of influence, in particular by applying to join Nato, our correspondent says.
One of the easiest ways for Moscow to put pressure on him was through South Ossetia and the other breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, which lies on Russia's southern border, he adds.
The Georgian president had pledged to restore his country's territorial integrity and he was clearly impatient to do this, our correspondent says, so Russia developed ever closer relations with the two regions.

The West's decision to recognise the independence of Kosovo early last year may have been a turning point for Moscow, which in response moved as close as possible to recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states without explicitly saying so, he adds. Soon after, both Russia and Georgia started preparing for war.

Russia began building up its military positions in both breakaway regions, while in Tbilisi, Western diplomats kept trying to stop President Saakashvili from launching an attack, respected analysts say.

In early August, skirmishing between Georgian and South Ossetian forces turned into an all-out assault on Tskhinvali by the Georgian military. In response, Russia invaded deep into Georgia.
But our correspondent says it is still unclear where exactly the Russian forces were on the night of the Georgian attack on South Ossetia.

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