Saakashvili Outlines Priorities for Refugee Ministry
President Saakashvili named Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture Gia Kheviashvili as the new Minister for Refugees and Accommodation (MRA) on November 4. At a news conference Saakashvili outlined the MRA?s priorities and said that the Ministry should also deal with the issues related with Georgians living abroad.
?This increase in functions of the Ministry is triggered by the fact that today large part of Georgians is living abroad. Hundreds of thousands of Georgian are currently residing in neighboring, or far countries. So far we had a general policy in this respect, but there were no mechanisms for implementation of [this policy]. Last year we have introduced double citizenship and thousands of our compatriots have received [double citizenship], but we want this number to increase up to hundreds of thousands. We want to have wide range of cultural relations with our compatriots abroad,? Mikheil Saakashvili said.
He also said that the MRA will be renamed as Ministry for Accommodation and Abroad Living Compatriots’ Issues.
The President also instructed the new Minister to carry out inventory of property in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia which was owned by internally displaced persons.
?We should once again carry out very detailed inventory of the property which was abandoned by every person in Abkhazia and in Tskhinvali Region [South Ossetia]? We are considering law on restitution and each and every house in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region should be returned back to their owners, each and every house should be inventoried,? he said.
Saakashvili also said that ex-Minister Eter Astemirova, who filed resignation on November 4, is a good professional, who will continue career in the state structures, but did not specify where.
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