Residents of Gali District complain about difficulties of returning from Georgia

The 700 residents of Abkhazia, who have returned from Georgia through the humanitarian corridor, were tested for coronavirus and sent to a two-week-long quarantine. Only those who have residence permits or 2016-model passports were allowed to return home.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the humanitarian corridor for the return of the residents of Abkhazia, who were temporarily in Georgia, was opened on June 22-24.

During the work of the humanitarian corridor, 700 residents of the Gali District returned to Abkhazia, Rustam Latipov, the head of the border detachment of the State Security Service (SSS) of Abkhazia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He has noted that only those citizens of Abkhazia with 2016-model passports or residence permits in Abkhazia were allowed to cross the border.

On March 6, Astamur Latsuzbaya, a resident of Gali, left Abkhazia for Georgia for his relative's funeral; on March 10, he tried to return, but he was not allowed to leave; he lived with his relatives for more than three months and lived on casual earnings. On June 22, he tried to return to Abkhazia, but they did not let him in again, since he has Georgian citizenship, but he had no time to apply for a residence permit in Abkhazia.

"Ten generations of my family lived in the Gali District; and I can't return home now. We are victims of this protracted conflict," the man told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 25, 2020 at 07:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.