Teachers' Corner brings the latest refugee news from around the world to your classroom. The UN Refugee Agency's (UNHCR) E-alert is created for educators like you who are teaching about refugees, human rights, and tolerance.

Dear Educator,

UNHCR brings life-saving aid to people forced to flee the South Ossetia conflict

Tens of thousands of civilians are living in precarious conditions, having been driven from their homes by the crisis in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.

In the days following the eruption of conflict on August 8, UNHCR-chartered planes carrying emergency aid arrived in the Georgian capital Tbilisi and in Vladikavkaz in the Russian Federation, bringing tents, jerry cans, blankets and kitchen sets to the displaced.

UNHCR remains on the ground helping thousands of people affected by the conflict, providing shelter and other relief items. With an increasing number of refugees and displaced people returning to their homes as the situation improves in the region, UNHCR teams report that the displaced are deeply worried about the future of their families.

“Uncertain about whether or when it will be safe to return to their villages, they worry about their houses, their harvest and livestock and how they are going to survive the winter," a UNHCR spokesperson said.

At its height of the conflict, more than 158,000 people were displaced – about 128,000 within Georgia and some 30,000 who fled to the Russian Federation. The vast majority of those who fled to the Russian Federation have now returned to their homes in South Ossetia. Prior to the latest crisis, UNHCR had been helping some 220,000 previously displaced people, refugees, returnees, asylum seekers and stateless people in Georgia.

Useful Resources

View UNHCR’s photo gallery on the Georgia crisis and read the latest news.

Who are Internally Displaced Persons? In many conflicts, the displaced do not cross international borders, but remain inside their own countries living in refugee-like situations.

For more key definitions, including the difference between the internally displaced and refugees, read UNHCR's updated Facts & Figures. Learn about who we help, where we work and what we do.

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