Mercy Corps Helping Georgia’s displaced families

The Statement of the Mercy Corps

Brutal fighting has driven as many as 100,000 Georgians from their homes. Mercy Corps is responding to the needs of Georgia’s displaced people with food distributions to hundreds of families in two displacement camps.

You can help us rush critical assistance to those affected by the region’s worst violence in years.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that up to 56,000 people have fled the city of Gori due to bombardment — this amounts to 80 percent of that city’s population. In addition, Russian sources estimate that at least 30,000 people have fled northward into Russia.

Mercy Corps is distributing food to nearly 800 people in two displacement camps — one near Georgia’s capital, Tblisi, and the other in southern Georgia’s Adigeni region. These food packages include basic supplies like buckwheat, sugar, rice and baby food. We are also planning to distribute hygiene kits in the same camps over the coming days, as well as expanding our work to deliver shelter and household items.

"Civilians are the innocent victims caught in the middle of this conflict," said Randy Martin, director of Mercy Corps’ Global Emergency Operations team. "Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, and are in desperate need of basics like shelter, food and fuel."

Fighting started last Thursday following months of heightened tensions in the semi-autonomous region of South Ossetia. The fighting escalated when Russia sent troops and tanks into the area. Although a cease-fire is currently in place, there are reports of continued violence and looting, and inter-ethnic tensions are running high.

Mercy Corps has worked in Georgia since 2000. Our programs support rural development by helping farm families increase production, gain access to financing and form farmer groups that help families connect to markets and information. Mercy Corps has also helped cultivate young leaders working to build an inclusive, multi-ethnic society in Georgia.

Mercy Corps was on the verge of launching a new program in South Ossetia aimed at increasing interaction between ethnic Ossetian and Georgian youth when the conflict began.