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As fighting rages in Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region, estimates are that 1,500 people have died. Many more have been wounded or are fleeing. Catholic Relief Services' staff in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi is now assessing needs and readying CRS' response.
"It's heartbreaking," says Kellie Hynes, Head of Office for CRS Georgia, about the casualties and the continuing violence. "There is movement by car and on foot. Everyone is coming out of the area."
Because the hospital sector is most in need of assistance, CRS is arranging to dispatch its Cairo-based medical staffer to Tbilisi. CRS Georgia will also work with established local church partners to identify the greatest needs of displaced people.
"Despite the rapidly growing insecurity, our team is safe and is working on helping the innocent victims of the violence," says Mark Schnellbaecher, Regional Director for Europe and the Middle East.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Troops of Pakistan army secure the troubled area of Damgar village on the outskirts of Swat valley October 6, 2008. Pakistani authorities have begun expelling Afghan refugees from a tribal region ...
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