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Suicide of Status-Less IDP

April 8, 2011

Nino Kakhishvili

72-year-old Malkhaz Maghaldadze, who fled from his house during the war in August of 2008, committed suicide.

The accident occurred on March 16 in the residential building of IDPs in Gardabani close to Tbilisi. The widow said she was at the funeral of her sister and entering home she saw her husband hung up on the gas-counter.

Neighbor Julieta Gogidze said the medical expertise also confirmed the suicide fact.

“We have official conclusion of the expertise which proves that Malkhaz hang himself up.” The widow and neighbors think the only reason of the 72-year-old man’s decision was poor social conditions.

About one and half month ago the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia lodged the family into the residential building of IDPs in Gardabani. However, the widow said even essential furniture was not in their flat when they arrived there.

“They did not have anything even to warm their room,” said Julieta Gogidze, the neighbor.

The building is supplied with gas but the neighbors said the old inhabitants of the building (IDPs from Kodori Gorge who were resettled to Tsintskaro several months ago) took the ovens and other furniture with them. So, the Maghaldadzes did not find anything in their new flat.

The accommodation, where Sonia Maghaldadze currently lives in, is not registered on her. The Ministry lodged her and her husband into the flat without IDP status. Only their children have IDP status who live separately (two of them in the same building and the third has a cottage in Tserovani settlement).

The spokesperson of the Ministry of IDPs told the Netgazeti that Sonya Maghaldadze applied to their ministry for the status on March 28.

“We have requested the woman to come to the ministry on Thursday and we will grant the status to her then,” said Eka Gulua.

Netgazeti inquired why Sonya Maghaldadze and her husband did not have the status so far and Eka Gulua answered:

“Because they have not applied to the ministry before.”

Netgazeti asked why the family was lodged into the residential building in Gardabani without status and the spokesperson said.

“They were displaced people and needed accommodation; though unless a person officially applies to the ministry for status, we cannot grant it to them.”

“When the ministry evicted the family from one building and lodged into another one, it acknowledged that they were IDPs and was responsible to request the family members to apply them for the status. The administrative institution is entitled to do it. But if the family had not applied for the status, they did not seek for similar status and the ministry breached the law when lodging them into a residential building for IDPs,” clarified the lawyer from the Georgian Young Lawyers Association Tamar Kordzaia.

In accordance to the law, state is entitled to give shelter to a person seeking IDP status. The person becomes a seeker of the IDP status as soon as s/he petitions to the Ministry. The Ministry discusses his/her petition and then grants the status to the person.

http://netgazeti.ge/GE/53/Life/5078/

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