The right of return of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abkhazia and South Ossetia “should always be stressed,” United Nations Secretary General António Guterres told the journalist of the Georgian Public Broadcaster on September 15.

Commenting the efficacy of the annual Georgia-sponsored UNGA resolution at his informal meeting with a group of Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalism fellows, SG Guterres said the Government of Georgia has been “very moderate and wise” in handling the situation involving the internally displaced persons from the two regions.

“[The Government has] a very effective policy of supporting the people displaced from both Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” he noted, adding that the right of return “should always be stressed,” and that it “is one of the central aspects of the human rights that we always say.”

SG Guterres also expressed hope that the Geneva International Discussions “that is moving very, very slowly, would be able to achieve some results.”

The United Nations General Assembly has been passing the non-binding resolutions reiterating the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia for ten years in a row – the first one, initiated in 2008, was in respect of Abkhazia and all the following ones in respect to both Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia.