West Georgia shelters about 180,000
displaced persons from Abkhazia, one of the Georgia’s richest regions that faced
tremendous violence when it claimed independence in 1993. During the violent conflicts,
around 40,000 persons fled from their homeland twice – first in 1993 and then again
in May 1998. These internally displaced persons are destitute. These Abkhazians are not
defined as refugees because they remain in their country of origin—Georgia. The
majority of displaced Abkhazians reside in Zugdidi district, an area that borders on
Abkhazia. They number about 120,000 persons in the Zugdidi district that itself has a
population of 135,000 residents, meaning that there are as many displaced Abhazians as
there are local residents there.

During the last eight years of the humanitarian emergency,
almost all international organizations based in Georgia have focused their assistance on
Zugdidi, the most densely populated district of displaced Abkhazians. Displaced and local
people in Zugdidi enjoyed the greater part of this assistance and, consequently, have
become the beneficiaries of development programs. In contrast, the displaced Abkhazians
and local population in Samegrelo, West Georgia, have received a remarkably low percentage
of Abkhazian assistance allocated for all of Georgia. For example, the residents of
"Military Town," a former Soviet military base in the Senaki region, located
only 45 kilometers from Zugdidi and sheltering approximately 3,000 displaced Abkhazians on
only 90 hectares of land, has only benefited from small scale programs from a couple of
aid agencies. The situation is similar in Khobi, Abasha, Martvili and other parts of
Samegrelo.

It was only in 1999 that several international organizations
started region-wide programs targeting the whole Samegrelo region. Apart from bringing
assistance, these programs aim to reestablish broken economic links while maintaining the
development balance between the various parts of the region. Displaced Abkhazians and
other vulnerable groups have better chances of economic survival in Zugdidi than in other
districts because the psychological conditions of displaced Abkhazians is better there.
Displaced Abkhazians in rural areas are more independent, as they are involved in
agriculture and able to feed themselves. Displaced Abkhazians in humanitarian relief camps
are more sensitive to post-conflict stress, as they’re isolated and unable to
integrate with local communities.

The majority of displaced Abkhazians dream of returning home
and are psychologically depressed. Only a small percentage of them focus on resolving
their employment problems and improving their living conditions. In order to avoid similar
problems in the future, humanitarian aid agencies must first consider local needs and
experiences of the various regions and avoid overlapping their activities. To ensure an
equal distribution of assistance to targeted communities, they must do better advanced
planning. They must pay more attention to those displaced Abkhazians in humanitarian
relief camps and focus on integrating these individuals and families into the private
sector.

Khatuna Murghulia is Editor-in-Chief of the
Public Interest Protection League in Zugdidi, Georgia.