HUMANITARIAN aid agencies say they can alleviate the suffering of thousands of displaced civilians but fear they will be blocked from the South Ossetia region.
Aid coordinators said the humanitarian mission would be "relatively straightforward", because the conflict is confined to one area and infrastructure is already in place to help refugees.
But they emphasised the uncertainty of access to the worst-
hit areas in South Ossetia if fighting and bombing continued. It is reported that hospitals are overflowing and people are sheltering without electricity or water after three days of conflict.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that ambulances were struggling to reach casualties in South Ossetia, and eye witnesses reported bodies in the streets and mass evacuation of the region.
The UN Refugee Agency said it was also concerned for 2,400 South Ossetians who fled into Georgia after a bomb exploded near a refugee camp.
Agencies including Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontieres and the ICRC flew aid coordinators to Georgia yesterday to assess the situation and more flights were due to leave today.
But as aid workers boarded planes, they did not know if they would be allowed into South Ossetia to see the crisis for themselves and organise a relief effort for the 75,000 civilians.
Oxfam humanitarian coordinator Simon Springett, who was due to fly to Georgia at 5am this morning, said: "The population of South Ossetia is 75,000 and our camps in Darfur have 150,000 people in one camp, so it should be relatively straightforward. The travel distances are very short, so in principle you could be purchasing things and transporting them very quickly. Whether it will be so straightforward to get into South Ossetia is another story.
"Right now it's very unclear what access is allowed into South Ossetia. If we cannot get in, we will have to focus on people that are leaving the area, because if it's a hostile environment access will be restricted. Even if we do get in, I don't know how easy it is for us to move around."
Springett added: "If it stays confined in South Ossetia it is probably quite manageable from a humanitarian point of view, but if the conflict does move to involve Abkhazia (another separatist area of Georgia] or if it causes a destabilisation of the government, we could be looking at a much longer and more serious situation."
Oxfam has had an office in the Georgian capital Tbilisi since 1991, when hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from Georgian separatist region Abkhazia.
Springett said: "There is nervousness among our people on the ground that the conflict will spread to Tbilisi, which would make it much more serious. People are surprised by the degree of engagement by the Russians."
Teams from Medecins Sans Frontieres are also going to North Ossetia, inside Russian territory, where thousands of refugees have fled.
The International Crisis Group, which advises governments on conflict prevention and resolution, has warned both sides in the conflict they could be committing war crimes if they do not allow civilians in South Ossetia to access adequate protection.
The full article contains 528 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
