Procedures for repatriatation of Meskhetians will start next year, according to a draft law proposed by the ruling majority in Parliament.
The Muslim population of the southern Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti – about 20,000 families – was deported to other parts of the former Soviet Union, mainly to Central Asia, in 1944 by Joseph Stalin. Many of them currently reside in Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine. Georgia undertook a commitment to repatriate them on joining the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1999.
Until now, there has been a reluctance to fulfil this obligation. With 200,000 internally displaced persons from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the authorities have said they were not in a position to provide for the Meskhetian returnees.
“Not only CoE commitments, but also Georgia’s NATO bid has become a reason to accelerate the process,” MP Pavle Kublashvili, co-author of the draft law, told Civil.Ge on June 13.
The draft law proposes that deportees and their family members, including their grandchildren, will be eligible for repatriation.
According to the proposal, those willing to return should apply at the nearest Georgian consulate or at the Georgian Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation, any time between January 1 and December 31, 2008.
“This one year period will enable us to see exactly how many people are willing to return and based on this information we will be able to plan – rationally and based on our national interests – the pace of the process,” MP Giga Bokeria of the ruling party said on June 13.
Applicants will require old Soviet papers to prove they were deported from Georgia in 1944, according to the draft law.
The proposal does not oblige the Georgian authorities to provide any financial support to the returnees.
“As far as I know none of the international or foreign state organizations is planning to provide this kind of financial support,” MP Pavle Kublashvili said.
The process will be administered by the Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation, according to the draft law.
The interior and justice ministries will also be involved, with the right to veto any applicants based on undetermined criteria.
In fact, the draft law does not outline clear criteria to determine eligibility.
Some opposition figures were vocal in their criticism of the draft legislation. The Conservative Party said that the returnees could pose a separatist threat. The Labor Party, predictably, also condemned the proposal.
The government, however, said that the legislation had been drafted in such a way so as to avoid any possible complications. Its enactment, it said, would also mean that Georgia could finally fulfil a long standing international commitment.
