Barbed wires, fences, banners and tillages – occupation dynamics

Lado Bitchashvili, Shida Kartli

“It started with barbed wires, continued with fences, then it changed into illegal installation of banners and final phase of the so-called “borderization process” is digging so-called “anti-fire line” tillage alongside the occupation line,” head of the Analytic Service at the State Security Service Kakhaber Kemoklidze described the dynamics of the moving occupation. 

In the frame of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, on July 11, next meeting was organized in Erngeti village. The main issue discussed during the meeting was so-called border demarcation activities in Bershueti village. Arrangement of so-called anti-fire tillage in the villages of Tseronisi, Knolevi and Avlevi of Kareli municipality was also discussed.

All three villages are located alongside the occupation line but the de-facto authority of South Ossetia dug the tillage in the currently occupied territory, which is separated from the Georgia-controlled territory by barbed wires. 

Murat Jyoev from the Tskhinvali de-facto authority participated in the Ergneti meeting, who said the tillage in the Kareli municipality villages serves to protect their people from fire in the fields. 

As for the so-called border marking banner in Bershueti village, according to which the occupation line now runs through the locals’ agricultural plots, Jyoev said: “The locals should be aware not to cultivate the plots located in the territory of other state.”

The representatives of the Government of Georgia protest the installment of the so-called border in Bershueti village. They said the issue shall be resolved peacefully and the locals shall be allowed to cultivate the plots and get harvest from them too.

“The borderization process became particularly intensive in June, that is very serious problem because the people living close the occupation line have to cope with it. The problem can be resolved only in the humanitarian way. It is necessary that people, whose agricultural plots have turned up on the other side of the occupation line, were allowed to cultivate and collect their harvest there,” Kakhaber Kemoklidze said.

Agricultural plots of several locals in Bershueti village are now located in the occupied territory, after the banner of the so-called border of de-facto South Ossetia was set up nearby the village. Merab Chilindrishvili is one of the victimized persons, who said during cultivation process there was only one pillar in the area but now it was replaced with the banner. The banner is now in the middle of his corn-field. Merab Chilinidrishvili will not be able to get harvest from the corn-field and urges the Government of Georgia for help.

“I hope they will reach agreement and I will be able to get harvest. There was no banner in the field when I was working there. We used to go that field without any obstacles but now it is occupied. They already forbid us to enter the plots. We are afraid to be arrested and do not go there,” Chilinidrishvili said.

During the July 11 IPRM meeting in Ergneti, EUMM representatives raised initiative to allow the farmers to get their harvest alongside the occupation line under their supervision.