15 August 2008, 12:56
Refugees arriving to Tbilisi express protest to Georgia's authorities
The residents of the Georgian villages, located in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone, who have arrived to Tbilisi, blame the authorities of Georgia of not protecting them. People are also disappointed with the absence of real help from the USA.
We remind you that refugees from South Ossetia started arriving to Tbilisi on August 9. Then, the Mayoralty of Georgian capital asserted that they could accommodate all of them.
In the evening on August 13, the refugees who had arrived from South Ossetia gathered in Tbilisi in front of the building of Georgian parliament in the Rustaveli Avenue and held a spontaneous protest action.
One can see in the video placed in the Georgian-language web page of the "Рressa.ge" a man asking a patrol policeman: "Why had (the authorities) left us alone? Why were the troops withdrawn? Why were villages and people left without defence?"
Mamuka Akhvlediani, vice-mayor of Tbilisi, came out to the refugees who rallied in the Rustaveli Avenue; he tried to calm down the angered refugees and promised to shelter them.
However, the refugees became still more emotional, saying that for them the most crucial is to save those people who are still in the villages controlled by Russian and Ossetian armed forces.
According to official data, as on August 13, the capital of Georgia had registered 23,000 refugees from South Ossetia.
