MPs Set up Commission to Study Treatment of Georgians in Russia

The Georgian Parliament set up a special commission on October 24 that will study cases of human rights abuses among Georgians who have been deported from Russia.

The 15-member commission will create a data base and send information about violations of the rights of ethnic Georgians in Russia to international organizations, MP Nika Gvaramia of the ruling National Movement party said.

He was nominated by the ruling party as chairman of the commission, which will also unite MPs from opposition parliamentary factions.

The opposition parliamentarians have hailed the commission, but said that more tangible moves should be carried out by the executive authorities to provide assistance to the Georgian community in Russia and deportees.

?This parliamentary commission will be only a political tool, but those Georgians in Russia need more concrete actions and assistance from the Georgian government. The President should allocate funds from the Presidential Fund for the assistance of deportees? for sending additional professional staff to our embassy in Moscow to cover not only the Russian capital but other cities as well? for hiring professional attorneys in Russia to protect Georgians? rights in courts,? Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party said on October 24.

Meanwhile, leader of the opposition Georgia?s Way party Salome Zourabichvili proposed a special fund to help those Georgians who have been deported from Russia.

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