Parliament Amends Law on Meskhetian Repatriation

Parliament approved on July 17 with its third and final reading amendment to the law on repatriation of Meskhetians, envisaging the extension of deadline for submitting applications from potential returnees from July 1, 2009 to January 1, 2010.

Law on repatriation of Meskhetians – survivors or descendants of Muslim population who were deported by Joseph Stalin from southern Georgia in 1944 was approved by the Georgian Parliament in 2007, which was one of the obligations undertaken by Georgia when it joined the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1999.

Initially deadline for submitting applications from those willing to repatriate was set till the end of 2008; but the deadline was extended in December, 2008 for six months.

MP Akaki Minashvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, cited recommendation from the international organizations, including from CoE, as a reason behind this recent extension of deadline. According to him up to 2,000 families have so far submitted applications.

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