Security for local communities: Can the achievements of the past few years be preserved?

Community perceptions of safety and security

This report analyses the results of the fourth annual survey (conducted since 2011) in the eastern districts of Abkhazia by the Institute for Democracy with support from Saferworld.

The residents of the eastern districts of Abkhazia, predominantly ethnic Georgians, are one of the groups which suffer most from the continuing effects of the unresolved Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Ethnic Georgians living in Gal/i, parts of Ochamchira/e, and Tkvarchel/i districts often feel abandoned and marginalised. They lack access to proper identification documents, experience difficulties in maintaining family contacts and trade links across the Ingur/i River, and intermittently face discrimination and criminal attacks, which go largely unreported to the Abkhaz authorities.

This survey tracks and summarises local perceptions of safety and security, basing analysis on quantitative and qualitative data gathered in four research areas during January to February 2014. The survey coincided with the start of the winter Olympics in Sochi and with a lull in the internal political tensions in Abkhazia, which had been dominating the domestic political situation over the past year. The fall-out from the political tensions, which put the spotlight on the contentious issue surrounding the citizenship of the ethnic Georgian population living in eastern districts of Abkhazia and the resulting suspension in the issuing of Abkhaz passports, has raised concerns among local people living in these areas. These concerns were reflected in the survey results and in the focus group discussions.

In spite of these difficulties, local ethnic Georgian and ethnic Abkhaz communities have maintained close relations, which gives hope for the future peaceful coexistence of the two peoples in Abkhazia.

The resulting report does not attempt to provide an authoritative analysis of the security situation in Abkhazia, but instead provides access to local perspectives on such issues.

“the results of the survey demonstrate that the achievements of the last several years in terms of improved stability, reduced crime levels and greater safety for communities should not be taken for granted.”

Tabib Huseynov