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"Crossing the Borders: How Petro-Politics and Petro-Wars Affect our Movements"
CEE/EU Round Table AWID FORUM 2008
The war between Georgia and Russia bore a global character. The inadequate use of military force by Russia against Georgia that all of the experts talk about was absolutely adequate to Russia’s intention to show its ambitions in relation to neighboring countries and declare to everyone that Russian imperialistic policy has risen after Perestroika, and that it intends to redraw borders of countries using its own discretion. It is clear that since Russia has its finger on the trigger, it wants to impose its own rules of the game upon the world and do everything to have energy carriers on the continent under control. The game is not over yet. Russia strives to control pipelines that they try to install by way of bypassing its territory so that they are beyond its control; its companies are purchasing natural gas that was supposed to pass through these pipelines. The August war showed that the territory of Georgia is not a safe zone; that Russia is able to occupy it within a few hours.
August of 2008 is not protection of the population of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia; it is rather a demonstration of power to the whole world. Understanding of processes and possible scenarios should have held Georgia from active military engagement. Georgia’s policy should have been directed toward economic development, establishment of good neighborly relations in the region, restoration of trust among the Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples, raising the attractiveness of being part of Georgia through economic prosperity.
As a result of Russian aggression in August of 2008, over 100 000 people were forced to leave their homes. The majority of them were women and children. Only the elderly remained in the conflict zone, willing to protect their property and possessions from destruction. They hoped that they would not touch them, 70-80 year old people ¹.
The largest part of IDPs were temporarily put in the buildings of Tbilisi kindergartens, high schools and state institutions; these buildings were not adapted for residence.
As we already mentioned, the vast majority of IDPs were women and children. Starting from the very first days of their becoming refugees, various government and non-government organizations started crisis interference and their psychological and social rehabilitation. This aid was spontaneous and incommensurable, though.
The sphere of our organization’s interest covered evaluation of psychological and social condition of women refugees accommodated in several schools of Tbilisi and Rustavi, and planning future actions on the basis of these data.
The majority of women point to significant decrease of positive physical, aw well as psychological, self-consciousness.
Namely, as a result of accumulating a negative experience, women have been having heavy recollections, acute reactions of mourning, high anxiety and fear, difficulties with memory, sense of helplessness, irritability (especially among the pregnant), mood swings from depression to euphoria. Non-specific somatic complaints have been recorded among women over 35, especially in the form of pain in the areas of head, joints and limbs, and muscle fatigue. Almost all of the chronic illnesses have exacerbated (psychological disorders, rheumatism, chronic tonsillitis, chronic cholecystitis, ulcer); acute respiratory diseases, neuralgia grew in number among women; spontaneous miscarriages have been recorded.
Sleep disorder posed a subject of special complaint, which women tied to untidy living conditions. However, we should take into consideration the fact that many women complain about nightmares that are as if staged and depict the theme of war and danger. Children and adolescents have such dreams: they scream in their sleep, tremble, perspire and remain restless even in a good sleeping environment.
As they point it out themselves, women are having a hard time fulfilling basic activities, such as cooking, dishwashing, look after their children, clean a room, etc. Their majority say that even a slightest physical load wears them off, while they are constantly thinking about tomorrow, worry about their family members and material possessions that they have left in the conflict zone.
It is a wish of the absolute majority of these women to return to their homes as quickly as possible, even though they realize that their life will not be safe in the future. During the time of their flight, they consider hard living conditions (untidy sanitary conditions, a shortage of beds, blankets, tableware) and a shortage of information to be the biggest problems during the period of their being refugees.
The majority of mothers asked themselves for psychological and psychiatric help because they noticed that their children’s health had “worsened”. These mothers think and psychologists who work with the refugees confirm that children have become aggressive, that they “incarnate” their traumatic experience in games, and that regression has been encountered among them (enuresis, finger sucking, mutism, trembling upon stimulation, attachment to mother).
In two months after the traumatic events, a large number of women believe that they will be able to overcome problems in the future; however, they consider returning to their home to be a necessary condition. At the same time, their majority think that the state must unconditionally guarantee compensation for the material damage and damage done to their safety.
I call for condemnation of mass murders of peaceful population, especially women and children, and I consider it a barbarity to shoot and bomb cities and villages, peaceful population; for investigation of the circumstances of the military operation on the territory of South Ossetia and in Georgia and for punishment of the guilty in accordance with international legislation; for building of adequate living quarters for the victims of the military actions and for creation of all the necessary conditions for their social and psychological rehabilitation, especially for their employment in a new place of residence and for access to education. The government of Georgia is partially fulfilling this task.
¹ 70-80 year olds were taken captive, kept in Tskhinvali in one common basement with one bathroom inside the room; whoever was able to work was taken everyday to clean the streets of corpses. Then they were exchanged for POWs. Thanks to an active involvement of International Red Cross, they started to feed them.
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