Ministry of Refugees Does Not Share Complaints of Eco-Migrants but Promised to Resolve Their Problems

Manon Bokuchava

In the beginning of November, humanrights.ge reported about the problems of eco-migrants from Adjara. People settled in Gorelovka village in Samtskhe-Javakheti region, told humanrights.ge that Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees had not implemented its responsibilities before eco-migrants.

Eco-migrants said 2-3 families have to live in one house in Gorelovka village. According to them, they have not received hayfields, which is the only income for local people because they earn their living by cattle-breeding. Eco-migrants said the Ministry had promised to assign them houses and hayfields. A big part of their complaints is about the local representative of the Ministry, Nazi Devadze, and the head of accommodation department, Giorgi Mazmishvili. Eco-migrants accused them of accepting bribes from families.

Humanrights.ge inquired what measures were taken by the ministry to resolve eco-migrants problems and whether they take responsibility for eco-migrants’ complaints.

We interviewed Nazi Devadze, local representative of the Ministry and Giorgi Mazmishvili, head of accommodation department at the Ministry, who were targets of eco-migrants’ complaints during our initial visit in Gorelovka.

Head of Ministry’s press-center Eka Gulua told us on the phone that interview was scheduled. Later, we learned that they had changed the respondent and we were lead into the working room of another official. The head of the Department on the Issues of Migration, Repatriation and Refugee, Zaza Imedashvili, was our new respondent.

“The Ministry’s representatives arrived at the place and they really found tense situation there. The reason is that Ministry has purchased fewer houses than the eco-migrant families that live there. About 15-17 families do not have houses there. We selected most impoverished families among them – 4 families and they will receive houses in near future,” Zaza Imedashvili said and added that Ministry had not received funds for the procurement of houses since 2009.

We asked why they had resettled eco-migrants from the mountainous regions into Gorelovka so that houses were purchased for them, and he answered. “I cannot use word “selfish” with regard to their action but these people settled in Gorelovka without any agreements with us. However, I fully understand their position. Maybe, their relatives living in Gorelovka suggested for them to come. I do not want to be suspicious about sincerity of those people but I do not know whether part of the resettled families really were eco-migrants or not. We do not have corresponding documents to prove it. Similar affairs are settled by participation of the local government of Adjara.”

During our visit in Gorelovka, one of our respondents Temur Beridze said he had settled in Gorelovka in 2010 – after the local government of Adjara mediated him to receive status of eco-migrant. Beridze said before resettlement the Ministry promised people houses and plots but finally he had to settle in his brother’s house. Beridze showed us a document which was issued by the local government of Adjara which stated that he was victimized by natural disaster and needed assistance as an eco-migrant. We also saw photos of Beridze’s house in Adjara which proved that his yard was removed by landslide and the building was standing on the rock.

Beridze holds eco-migrant’s certificate and claims that he had arrived in Gorelvka based on the agreement with the Ministry. Beridze also said that local representative of the Ministry, Nazi Devadze, had assigned houses to the families who resettled in Gorelovka after him.

As for second complaint about the hay-fields, part of eco-migrants said the Ministry initially started distribution of 2 hectares of land but then stopped; our respondent, eco-migrant Nugzar Artmeladze told us: “Initially, before they resettled us here, the ministry promised us to give about 2 hectares of hay field to each family. At some point they started the distribution of hay-fields but then the process stopped. I was told they had assigned 2 hectares of hay-fields to me but when I arrived at the field to mow hay, another person was there and said the land legally belonged to him; nothing was assigned to me at all.  So, the big part of eco-migrants remained without plots”.

The Ministry cannot disregard Artmeladze’s case because he already owns a house in Gorelovka based on the status of eco-migrant.

Zaza Imedashvili gave a long answer about land problems. However, at the end he said that eco-migrants’ complaints were ungrounded: “Although the law grants 1.75 hectares of land instead alleged 2 hectares, we, together with local government, assigned two hectares of land to each eco-migrant family. Now they demand more than 2 hectares.”

Imedashvili does not share negative attitude towards already former local representative of the Ministry Nazi Devadze and said she had represented their institution for four years and if she had committed any crime, they would have fired her. “Nazi Devadze personally filed her resignation letter. We had no complaints against her,” Imedashvili said.

We asked whether he admitted Ministry’s responsibility for the problems of eco-migrants, because several dozen families opposed them. Imedashvili replied that some minor mistakes might have made but afterwards he started speaking about negative mentality of the citizens. “There is some mentality – they believe that state shall permanently assist them. However, they can be assisted only at the moment of settlement. We create relevant living conditions and then those people become ordinary resident of the new environment; they should independently resolve their problems. That’s why we have many families, who settled there, managed to properly live there but there are people who could not do it.”

Eco-migrants blame the Ministry representatives in the negligence at the moment of resettlement and sometimes they even accuse them of corruption.

Humanrights.ge got in touch with the initiative group, who arrived in Gorelovka to study the situation at the place. Lia Margishvili said the Ministry shared the complaints of the eco-migrants and promised to assist them.

“They lodged a collective petition to the ministry on November 28. It provided concrete cases of each family. We request investigation all facts, where concrete names are mentioned, and then we expect relevant measures to be taken by the Ministry,” Lia Margishvili said and added that the Ministry will send auditors to Gorelovka and will inspect all financial operations implemented by the Ministry’s representatives.

See an article on the same topic on humanrights.ge: Eco-Migrants from Adjara VS Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation