UN Refugees Commissioner Guterres in Caucasus

Aug 19, 2008, 12:49 GMT

Tbilisi/Geneva - Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Tuesday to begin a four-day mission to Georgia and the Russian Federation to assess the humanitarian situation in the region.

Earlier on Tuesday a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) aid flight arrived in the western Georgian city of Batumi, the first aid flight to reach the area. UNHCR says that aid supplies for more than 50,000 people have so far been flown to Tbilisi, but have not been able to reach the western region by road.

UNHCR aid workers that arrived in the city of Gori, which had been at the centre of the conflict between Georgia and Russia, described it as being mostly deserted.

A UNHCR statement on their website said that aid workers had found some 60 people waiting in the city centre for aid.

The statement said that while damage to the buildings in Gori city centre did not appear extensive 'there were clear indications of massive looting of shops and apartments.'

Guterres is due to meet with Russian and Georgian authorities to discuss what further aid is required, the website said.

During a meeting with the Georgian Minister for Reintegration, Temuri Yakubashvili, High Commissioner Guterres called on the international community to mobilize resources for the humanitarian assistance effort in Georgia.

A UNHCR spokesperson said that the humanitarian situation in the region was 'unstable and unpredictable.'