A/RES/72/280 GA

United Nations A/RES/72/280 General Assembly Distr.: General 18 June 2018 18-09750 (E) 200618 *1809750* Seventy-second session Agenda item 35 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 12 June 2018 [without reference to a Main Committee (A/72/L.55)] 72/280. Status of internally displaced persons and refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia, and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia The General Assembly, Recalling all its relevant resolutions on the protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons, including its resolutions 62/153 of 18 December 2007, 62/249 of 15 May 2008, 63/307 of 9 September 2009, 64/162 of 18 December 2009, 64/296 of 7 September 2010, 65/287 of 29 June 2011, 66/165 of 19 December 2011, 66/283 of 3 July 2012, 67/268 of 13 June 2013, 68/180 of 18 December 2013, 68/274 of 5 June 2014, 69/286 of 3 June 2015, 70/165 of 17 December 2015, 70/265 of 7 June 2016, 71/290 of 1 June 2017 and 72/182 of 19 December 2017, Recalling also all relevant Security Council resolutions on Georgia relating to the need for all parties to work towards a comprehensive peace and the return of internally displaced persons and refugees to their places of origin, and stressing the importance of their full and timely implementation, Recognizing the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement 1 as the key international framework for the protection of internally displaced persons, Concerned by forced demographic changes resulting from the conflicts in Georgia, Concerned also by the humanitarian situation caused by armed conflict in August 2008, which resulted in the further forced displacement of civilians, Mindful of the urgent need to find a solution to the problems related to forced displacement in Georgia, Underlining the importance of the discussions that commenced in Geneva on 15 October 2008 and of continuing to address the issue of the voluntary, safe, __________________ 1 E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, annex. A/RES/72/280 18-09750 2/2 dignified and unhindered return of internally displaced persons and refugees on the basis of internationally recognized principles and conflict-settlement practices, Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General concerning the implementation of resolution 71/290,2 1. Recognizes the right of return of all internally displaced persons and refugees and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity, to their homes throughout Georgia, including in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia; 2. Stresses the need to respect the property rights of all internally displaced persons and refugees affected by the conflicts in Georgia and to refrain from obtaining property in violation of those rights; 3. Reaffirms the unacceptability of forced demographic changes; 4. Underlines the urgent need for unimpeded access for humanitarian activities to all internally displaced persons, refugees and other persons residing in all conflict-affected areas throughout Georgia; 5. Calls upon all participants in the Geneva discussions to intensify their efforts to establish a durable peace, to commit to enhanced confidence-building measures and to take immediate steps to ensure respect for human rights and create favourable security conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and unhindered return of all internally displaced persons and refugees to their places of origin; 6. Underlines the need for the development of a timetable to ensure the voluntary, safe, dignified and unhindered return of all internally displaced persons and refugees affected by the conflicts in Georgia to their homes; 7. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session a comprehensive report on the implementation of the present resolution; 8. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-third session the item entitled “Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development”. 95th plenary meeting 12 June 2018 __________________ 2 A/72/847.

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