Refugees suffer in Georgia-Russia conflict

The tensions between Russia and Georgia will not help refugees stranded by recent fighting between the two countries, Catholic aid workers have said.
More than 128,000 people have already been displaced inside Georgia by the conflict, and concern is mounting about what will happen to those who can’t go back, who’ll need housing, vocational training and a new start in life, according to Laura Sheahen, an information officer for Catholic Relief Services who visited Georgia in late August. She said many people had returned to western Georgia but would face hardships obtaining fuel and repairing their homes during the coming winter.
Father Witold Szulczynski, head of Caritas Georgia, said on August 29 in a telephone interview: “It isn’t the first time people here have been attacked and bombed, and many are saying they don’t want to go back. I met a woman in one of the Tbilisi refugee shelters who was crying because she had no news of her husband, and others who were missing mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. They say they just want to live as normal people in normal conditions.”