By DPA,
New York : The UN refugee agency Tuesday said nearly 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in Georgia, including 30,000 who have fled South Ossetia for Russia since war broke out last week.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the figure was provided by warring parties, Russia and Georgia. The agency also said its first aid flight, a Boeing 707 cargo plane, arrived in Georgia Tuesday carrying 34 tonnes of tents, jerry cans, blankets and kitchen sets.
The $2 million humanitarian airlift was approved by UNHCR Monday, with the first plane carrying an emergency stockpile from Dubai. A second flight from Copenhagen will reach Georgia Wednesday. The agency said the supplies would meet the needs of only 30,000 displaced people.
“The two flights will provide more than 70 tonnes of aid supplies for up to 30,000 people and will augment other relief items already distributed by UNHCR from its warehouses in Georgia,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.
UNHCR reported people were fleeing the fighting inside Georgia, including 56,000 from Gori, a major central Georgian city after Russia troops entered it Monday.
The World Food Programme said it had also begun distributing relief assistance to more than 2,000 displaced people in South Ossetia.