UN: Georgians effectively blocked from their homes

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Thousands of refugees from the Russia-Georgia fighting this month are being told by Russian soldiers that their security could not be guaranteed if they return to their homes, Melita Sunjic, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner of Refugees in Georgia, said Saturday. Sunjic added that it was not clear if Russian soldiers were preventing refugees from returning, but that the warnings effectively block them from going home. Some 2,000 refugees are in UNHCR camps in Gori, and thousands of others may be in the region. All hope to return to villages in the "security zones" Russia is claiming for itself. Many are now on Georgian territory south of the border with the separatist republic of South Ossetia.