The UN resolution recognizing the rights of refugees from Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to return to their homes is a diplomatic victory for the country, President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Wednesday.
"This is a little diplomatic victory. The final victory will come when the occupiers leave our territory and our people get back their homes and their motherland in full," he said in thinly veiled reference to Russia.
"To do that, we will have to win many small diplomatic battles with the resources that we have."
On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly approved the resolution "Status of the Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia," by a 50-17 vote.
About 6% of Georgia's population (about 246,000 people) are displaced, according to a recent report by Amnesty International. About 220,000 left their homes during conflicts in the early 1990s.
Some 128,000 people fled South Ossetia and Abkhazia during and after the August 2008 war. The majority of them has since returned to their homes, but close to 26,000 people are still unable to return.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states two weeks after a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008, which began when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
Since then, Russia has deployed thousands of troops and border guards to the two regions, which Georgia considers part of its sovereign territory.
TBILISI, September 8 (RIA Novosti)
