Way Home – Repatriation of Meskhs

Salome Achba

According to the commitments and obligations of Georgia to the CoE, Georgia shall repatriate forcibly deported Meskhs by the soviet authority to their historical homeland. The process will supposedly end up late in 2012. Seekers of repatriate’s status had to submit applications before January of 2010. Georgian Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees received applications of only 5 841 Meskh families.

The obstacles for the repatriation process are: unsteady political will for the repatriation of the Meskhs, shortcomings in the legislation, odd bureaucratic procedures and informational vacuum regarding the issue. In addition to that, Georgian society had different reaction about the repatriation idea. Part of the society thinks it is a morally imperative for Georgia to repatriate Muslim Meskhs to the homeland; while another part thinks their repatriation will create additional problems for the country.

Historical context

In 1944, Muslim population of Meskheti region became victims of forced collective deportation. The soviet government often deported people by force in order to punish “suspicious” people. According to the historians’ evaluation, Muslim Meskhs were resettled because Stalin was afraid they would support Turkey in case if the USSR launched war against Turkey.

Turkish and Georgian scientists have contradictory opinions about the origin of Meskh people. Majority of Georgian scientists believe Muslim population of Meskheti region initially were Christians and belonged to the Georgian tribe – Meskhs. According to this opinion, after the Ottoman Empire invaded the region in the XVI century, they started mass muslimization of the locals. The cultural transformation lasted during the medieval centuries and majority of Meskhs converted to Muslim faith.

As for Turkish scientists and several Meskhetian leaders, they believe majority of local population was ethnic Turks and they always were Muslims. However, they were under influence of Georgian culture and traditions.

In November of 1944 entire Muslim population of Meskheti region were exiled from their houses and sent to Central Asia by trains which previously transported cattle. In 1945, the soviet authority forcibly settled about 30 000 Christian inhabitants from various regions of Georgia in the houses of deported Meskhs.

Although 67 years have passed since forced exile of Meskhs, the people are still considered to be deported. More than 400 000 Meskhs live in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey and Kirgizstan. The Georgian state started their repatriation process in 2007 after the Law on Repatriation was adopted.

Commitment to the Council of Europe and Process

In 1999, after the Georgia became member of the CoE, the repatriation of Meskhs became official obligation of the government of Georgia. Georgia was entitled to draw up a draft-law for the repatriation of Meskhs to the historical homeland, for their integration with the society and their Georgian naturalization. The government had twelve years for the fulfillment of their commitment.

Despite the obligations to the CoE, nothing was done in the field of Meskhs’ repatriation during Eduard Shevardnadze’s presidency. The creation of the legal base for the repatriation started several years after the Rose Revolution. In 2007, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the Law on Repatriation.

Today shortcomings in the law are much spoken about. Part of experts working on the Meskhs’ issue believes the law creates odd bureaucratic barriers for the seekers of the repatriate’s status.

“I think, the list of documents that the seeker of the repatriate’s status shall submit to the Ministry is too long. The law requires the documents which are not so easy to get hold of. Just imagine, how difficult it can be for a person living 100 kilometers away from the regional center to take biometric photo. Besides, the applicants shall submit documents either in English or in Georgian languages while most of them know none of those languages. And translation and confirmation of the documents by the Notary require additional expenses,” human rights defender Emil Adelkhanov, member of the Amnesty International said.

International Project Manager of the European Center for Minority Issues Jana Sommerlund said the Law of Georgia about Repatriation does not impose any financial obligations on the state in regard with repatriates. Sommerlund thinks it is the biggest gap in this law. It means, the repatriates will have to seek and purchase accommodations in Georgia with their funds.

The deadline for submitting the applications of seekers was January 1, 2010. Only 5 841 families out of over 400 000 Meskhs living worldwide applied to the Georgian state. After receiving the status, they will easily obtain Georgian citizenship.

The process shall finish late in 2012. Irakli Kokaia, Head of Department for Refugees and Repatriation within the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees said currently the Ministry is studying the applications. “We divided the applications into three groups. 75 applications without any mistakes in it make up the first group; they have already received the status of repatriate. The second group unites the applications who have submitted all documents except notification about deportation. We are fully aware that the resettlement happened in the 1940s and many families lost documents. In order to eradicate the problem, a Council of Doyens with three people was set up; they have to confirm the fact of resettlement of a person who has applied to our ministry but could not provide us with the corresponding document. The Doyens confirm the fact based on special protocols. The third group unites people who have submitted incomplete documents. Till the end of this year they will be notified about their mistakes and will have four months to fix them.”

Co-director of the Civil Policy Institute Gia Tarkhan-Mouravi thinks the fact that only 5 841 families have applied to the Ministry has resulted from set of bureaucratic obstacles and unclear political will of the government to repatriate Meskhs.

“The biggest problem in this process is lack of political will to repatriate Meskhs. I have impression that the government started the process only because it was their obligation before the international community and not because it is internal affair of Georgia and morally imperative issue. Only 5 thousand families have applied for the repatriate’s status. I agree with you that the number is too small. It resulted from procedural obstacles that should be overcome by applicants. Besides that, there is lack of information – majority of Meskhs did not know about the ongoing process and registration of documents. If we create similar obstacles for those people, earlier or later it will have negative result for us,” Gia Tarkhan-Mouravi said.

Gia Tarkhan-Mouravi is a co-author of the recently published Georgian book: “Meskhs: Way Home”.  Other authors of the book are Tom Trier - Regional Director of the Danish-German Research Foundation “European Center for Minority Issues” in the Caucasus, and Forrest Kilimnik - Editor/Research Assistant of the ECMI.

Like part of experts, many Meskhs also think the process of application submission was groundlessly complicated formality; as for the Law about Repatriation, they think it is rather obstacle for their repatriation process than supplementary instrument. Besides that, Meskhs residing in various countries lacked complete and exact information about the procedures to be taken for the repatriate’s status or for obtaining Georgian citizenship. Consequently, about 180 Meskhs (mostly from Azerbaijan) repatriated to their historical homeland based on their initiative. Most of them currently live in Akhaltsikhe and Adigeni districts. They do not hold citizenship of any country; so they illegally live in Georgia.

Chairwoman of the Association Tolerant Tsira Meskhishvili said self-repatriated Meskhs face many problems due to lack of citizenship and status: “Since those people hold neither status nor citizenship, they face many problems. For example, they cannot purchase a land; they cannot involve medical and social state programs … Although they have access to education but they encountered new problem – young people cannot get graduation certificates of public schools because they have to pay voucher – 400 GEL per year that they cannot afford. 16 of self-repatriated people have not applied for the status. Now our organization is focused on those 16 people and tries to somehow obtain legal status for them.”

Integration of Meskhs and Opinions of the Georgian Society

The question is getting more urgent when repatriation process is approaching the end: how does the integration process of the repatriated Meskhs work and what does the government do in this direction? The Law about Repatriation does not say anything about integration. As we have found out, the state has not worked out any strategy for the integration of Meskhs.

“Before the repatriation process starts, both local inhabitants and new-comers shall be prepared for it. However, the state does not do anything in this direction. Although international organizations try to resolve the problem, it is not enough. Besides that, the lack of information about Meskhs’ repatriation is a serious problem for the Georgian society. I often discuss this issue with various groups of society particularly with students. I would like to underline that big part of the Georgian society does not have correct information about deported Meskhs,” said Gia Tarkhan-Mouravi.

Society has different opinions about the repatriation of Meskhs. Part of them thinks the Meskhs shall repatriate to the historical homeland by all means and it will not create problems for the country. But another part has negative opinion about the issue. The survey of the IRI in 2007 showed that 67% of the interviewed people were against the repatriation; and only 16% supported the idea.

Which region will Meskhs settle in Georgia? This question is often asked when discussing the repatriation of Meskhs. The Law about Repatriation does not ensure any legal mechanisms which can entitle the government to interfere in the decision of repatriates when selecting the place of residence. So, they are free in selecting the place of residence. Since there is no accommodation program for repatriates, they should choose, rent or purchase houses themselves.

It is clear most repatriated Meskhs wish to live in their original land – Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Part of experts thinks mass resettlement of Meskhs in Samtskhe-Javakheti might result into controversy between locals and repatriated people. Current residents of the region are descendents of the people who were forcibly resettled from various regions of Georgia in order to fill in the empty territories after deportation of Meskhs. Many of local people live in the houses which originally belonged to Meskhs. Although the Law about Repatriation does not allow repatriates to restitute their property, the residents of Samtskhe-Javakheti region are afraid that repatriates will claim their old houses and plots. Thus, it will cause tension between locals and repatriates.

Gia Tarkhan-Mouravi thinks the problem will be resolved when the state encourages the settlement of repatriates in various regions of Georgia with various economical programs. “Unless we create some motivation for them to settle in other regions besides Samtskhe-Javakheti, we will not have mechanisms to control tense situation either. So, I think the government shall encourage these people to settle in various regions of Georgia.”

The repatriation process shall finish at the end of 2012. The people, who will receive status, will be able to obtain Georgian citizenship through simplified procedures. Those, who did not apply to the Minsitry within the estimated deadline, or will decide to return to historical homeland later,  the Law About Georgian Citizenship will regulate the procedures about obtaining citizenship in their case.