The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia (), refers to the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992–1993 and 1998 at the hands of Abkhaz separatists and their allies. Armenians, Greeks, Russians, and opposing Abkhazians were also killed.
In 2007, 267,345 Georgian civilians were registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs). The ethnic cleansing and massacres of Georgians have been officially recognized by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) conventions in 1994, 1996, and again in 1997 during the Budapest, Lisbon, and Istanbul summits, which condemned the "perpetrators of war crimes committed during the conflict."
On May 15, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted (by 14 votes to 11, with 105 abstentions) a resolution A/RES/62/249, which "Emphasizes the importance of preserving the property rights of refugees and internally displaced persons from Abkhazia, Georgia, including victims of reported "ethnic cleansing," and calls upon all the Member States to deter persons under their jurisdiction from obtaining property within the territory of Abkhazia, Georgia in violation of the rights of returnees." The UN Security Council passed a series of resolutions in which it appealed for a cease-fire.
Background
Prior to the 1992 War, Georgians made up nearly half of Abkhazia's population, while less than one-fifth of the population was Abkhaz. In contrast, in 1926, the two populations had been nearly balanced at around one-third each, with Russians, Armenians, and Greeks constituting the remainder. Large-scale immigration of Georgians, Russians, and Armenians allowed their respective populations to balloon; while the Abkhaz population had not even doubled by 1989, the Georgian population had nearly quadrupled from 67,494 to 239,872, the Armenian population had tripled, and the Russian population had sextupled.
Military conflict in Abkhazia
In 1992, the political situation in Abkhazia changed into a military confrontation between the Georgian government and Abkhaz separatists. The fighting escalated as Georgian Interior and Defence Ministry forces, along with police units, took Sukhumi and came near the city of Gudauta. The ethnically based policies initiated by the Georgians in Sukhumi simultaneously created refugees and a core of fighters determined to regain lost homes. However, as the war progressed, the Abkhaz separatists carried out similar policies of violent displacement of ethnic Georgians in greater proportions, which saw 250,000 people forcefully evicted from their homes. Using aid allegedly provided by Russia, the separatists managed to re-arm and organize militants from North Caucasus. According to political analyst Georgy Mirsky, the Russian military base in Gudauta was, "supplying the Abkhazian side with weapons and ammunition." Furthermore, he adds that "no direct proof of this has ever been offered, but it would be more naïve to believe that the tanks, rockets, howitzers, pieces of ordnance, and other heavy weapons that the anti-Georgian coalition forces were increasing using in their war had been captured from the enemy." This anti-Georgian military coalition was made up of the North Caucasian Group called "The Confederates of Mountain People of Caucasus", Shamil Basaev's "Grey Wolf" Chechen division, the Armenian Bagramian Battalion, Cossacks, militants from Transnistria, and various Russian special units. According to political scientist Bruno Coppieters, "Western governments took some diplomatic initiatives in the United Nations and made up an appeal to Moscow to halt an active involvement of its military forces in the conflict. UN Security Council passed series of resolutions in which it appeals for a cease-fire and condemned the Abkhazian policy of ethnic-cleansing."
Ethnic cleansing (1992–1993) Confronted with hundreds of thousands of ethnic Georgians unwilling to leave their homes, the Abkhaz side implemented a process of ethnic cleansing to expel and eliminate the ethnic Georgian population in Abkhazia.