FOREIGNERS FLEE GEORGIA AFTER ATTACK ON OSSETIA
By Kirill Besonov
Moscow News
15/08/2008
Russia
Thousands of foreign citizens left Georgia after the attack on
South Ossetia and the subsequent involvement of Russian troops who
moved in to secure peace in the region. With air traffic crippled as
Georgia announced it was in a state of war, many people had to move
to neighboring Armenia by buses and car convoys to get to safety.
The United States was the first to start the evacuation. On Sunday
and Monday, about 170 U.S. citizens left the Georgian capital of
Tbilisi and were delivered across the border with Armenia by car
convoys. The evacuees included businessmen and tourists and also
families and dependants of U.S. diplomats stationed in Georgia. The
entire staff of the U.S. Peace Corps in Georgia also left the country
before Thursday. The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, however, remained open
and provided consultations. On Wednesday the U.S. State Department
issued a notice in which it advised all Americans to leave Georgia
despite the Russian order to end military action.
Seeing the great increase in people willing to leave Georgia, Armenian
authorities introduced a simplified scheme of border crossing, allowing
about 2,000 foreign citizens to enter the country, from where they
could head home. According to the ArmeÂnian Foreign Ministry report,
about 2,000 foreigners entered Armenia from Georgia between Sunday
and Wednesday. This figure included many diplomats and their family
members. In addition, about 7,500 Armenian citizens chose to return
to their country.
The route through Armenia becaÂme the most popular way for so many
people because Georgia stopÂped air traffic with Russia and many
other countries, including Germany and Ukraine. Some destinations,
such as Latvia and Israel were still accessible, but given the number
of potential passengers, there were not enough places for everyone.
Several Russian citizens reported that Georgian authorities barred
them from leaving the country. They said their papers were checked
and they were ordered to return to their places of residence. The
Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it received about 12 phone
calls with such complaints. The Georgian side said the move was caused
by security fears, but Russian diplomats still considered issuing a
protest against the infringement of the Russian citizens’ rights.
There were no reports of casualties among foreigners in the latest
Georgian-Ossetian conflict, but according to the International News
Safety Institute, four journalists were reported dead as of Thursday
morning. The killed were Alexander Klimchuk, the Russian owner of
Georgia’s independent photo agency Caucasus Press Images; Grigol
Chikhladze from Newsweek Russia; and Dutch cameraman Stans Storimans,
39, of the news station RTL. A so-far unidentified Georgian journalist
and his driver were also reported dead, the INSI report read. At
least 10 journalists were reported wounded.
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