Inimõiguste Nõukogu 35. sessioon
Intervention by ESTONIA
Item 3 – Clustered ID with Special Rapporteur on internally displacedpersons and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty
Genf, 7 juuni 2017
Mr President,
Estonia fullyaligns itself with the European Union statement. We would like to thank theformer Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons,Mr Chaloka Beyani, for his previous work and the new Special Rapporteur, Ms CeciliaJimenez-Damary, for the report and presentation today.
We agree withthe Special Rapporteur that supporting durable solutions for the internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) and addressing the overall root causes of theirdisplacement remains of fundamental concern. In this light, we welcome the follow-upvisits of the former Special Rapporteur to Ukraine and Georgia to consult thechallenges and opportunities for achieving a durable solution to internaldisplacement.
In the contextof the visit to Georgia, Estonia remains concerned that the situation in Georgia’s occupied territories has furtherdeteriorated, creating additional obstacles to the return of the IDPs to theirhomes. Along with the Special Rapporteur, Estonia condemns theinstallation of the coiled razor wire fence along the administrative boundaryline in South-Ossetia, continuing to deprive IDPs of freedom of movement andchoice of residence, creating tangible obstacles to their access to land,property, water and livelihoods, and reiterates the call for the removal of allsuch barriers. Another extremely worrying trendin the occupied territories is the forced re-naturalization of Georgiancitizens and the deprivation of rights of those who prefer to keep theirexisting Georgian citizenship, violating their right to work, freedom ofmovement and other fundamental rights and freedoms.
Finally, we regretthat the authorities de facto incontrol in these occupied areas have failed to guarantee access to the SpecialRapporteur to the occupied territories and call upon them to provide unhinderedaccess to the international actors to monitor the human rights situation.
Thank you.