On June 3, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution reiterating the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees in Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, with 107 votes in favor, 9 against, and 49 abstentions.

Russia, Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Zimbabwe voted “no.” The number of “no” votes remained at 9, the same as last year. The composition of the countries that voted against was almost the same, except that Equatorial Guinea and Sudan joined the “no” vote while Burundi and Syria dropped out.

Syria, which had typically voted against the resolution, abstained this year after the fall of the Assad regime last December.

The number of votes in favor of the resolution increased from 103 to 107 countries compared to last year. Four more countries – Paraguay, South Korea, Seychelles, and Sierra Leone – voted in favor of the resolution this year.

“Unprecedented number of supporters!” GD Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili wrote on social media, noting

China, with which the Georgian Dream government signed a strategic partnership, abstained again, as last year.

Those who abstained included the United Arab Emirates, which angered critics, who cited the Georgian Dream government’s earlier move to withdraw Zurab Pololikashvili‘s candidacy for secretary-general of the UN World Tourism Organization and support the UAE’s candidate, Shaikha Nasser Al Nowais. The latter has already been nominated for the post.

In 2024, 103 voted in favor, 9 against, and 52 abstained. In 2023, 100 voted in favor, 9 against, and 59 abstained. In 2022, 95 voted in favor, 12 against, and 56 abstained. To see all past voting records, follow this link.

According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the following delegations made supporting statements during the discussion of the IDP resolution: the European Union, the United Kingdom, Lithuania (on behalf of the Baltic and Nordic countries), Canada (on behalf of Australia and New Zealand), and Japan.

Georgia has been submitting the IDP resolution to the UN General Assembly since 2008. The resolution condemns the forced demographic changes in the Russia-occupied regions of Georgia, reaffirms the right of internally displaced persons (IDPs), regardless of their ethnicity, to return to their homes in dignity and safety, and stresses the need to respect and protect their property rights. Beyond its humanitarian context, the resolution has practical implications, as it directs the UN secretary-general to prepare an annual report on the situation of displaced persons in Georgia and on the implementation of the resolution.