Boris Cilevi?s, who is a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, and who visited Georgia last week, said on March 28 that ?problems regarding the IDPs and refugees are very serious in Georgia.?
Boris Cilevi?s will prepare a report and draft recommendations regarding the IDPs and refugees in Georgia, which will then be discussed by the PACE. During his three-day visit, Cilevi?s met representatives from various international organizations and NGOs, as well as visited collective centers where IDPs live in Zugdidi and Tskaltubo, two towns in western Georgia.
?We are concerned with the situation which is in the collective centers where IDPs live, in particular, electricity cuts, which lead to a complete lack of both electricity and water,? Boris Cilevi?s said at a news conference in Tbilisi on March 28.
He expressed concern that the participation of the Georgian government in the New Approach, which is an IDP assistance program launched in 1999 mainly by the UN agencies, ?takes place on an ad hoc basis without any elaborated strategy or normative documents.?
The PACE official welcomed the Georgian government?s decision to set up a special commission dealing with the issues relating to the repatriation of Meskhetians, deported from Georgia in 1944. This repatriation of Meskhetians is one of the commitments undertaken by Georgia upon jointing the Council of Europe in 1999.
?I urge you to combat prejudices, which still exists in the Georgian society. The Meskhetians remain the only people who still have no opportunity to return after Stalin?s deportations. When they are presented by some populist politicians as a kind of aliens, who threaten Georgia, Georgian identity, it is not constructive,? Boris Cilevi?s said.
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