Status-less Akhalgori Residents

Mari Mtivlishvili, Akhalgori

About 20% of Akhalgori residents will remain without status. Some of them do not in principal get status, others cannot receive status due to some reasons. The new registration of IDPs started on September 19, and is due to October 28, 2013.

Akhalgori district resident needs IDP status for the participation in the elections alongside with other benefits (IDP allowance, accommodation). If an Akhalgori district resident does not have IDP status, he loses a right to participate in the elections. More than 1.000 Akhalgori residents could not participate in the last year parliamentary elections for this reason. 

Ekaterine Kokashvili is also a status-less Akhalgori resident. When talking to humanrights.ge, she said that she has been trying to get IDP status since 2008 but in vain. The Akhalgori legitimate government speaks about the reasons, which have nothing to do with the status. Kokashvili said that their motives for not granting status is working for the Citizens’ Union in 1997 and the persecution by Chochelis (before the last year parliamentary elections, Tsezar Chocheli was a Mtskheta-Mtianeti regional governor).

“Another reason is my sister’s debt to the cousin of the Akhalgori district deputy governor. She gave me the document… I cannot understand what the connection between that debt and my status is. I applied to Mediko Chokheli (the Akhalgori district governor). She also refused to grant me the status and said – I cannot go into prison for you. Those people, who have never had any connection with the Akhalgori district, received two houses. I lost my property, but they do not even give me the status, not to say anything about house! Everybody suggests me to appeal to the court but I cannot afford it,” Kokashvili said. 

In order to get IDP status, an applicant first of all should receive a notification from the Akhalgori legitimate governor, whose residence moved to Tserovani IDP Settlement after 2008 August war. That notification proves that the person is really a permanent resident of the Akhalgori district.

According to our information, after the war, the Akhalgori district legitimate government issued the aforementioned notification to the people, who have never lived in the district. These people even received cottages or compensations allocated for IDPs whilst actual residents of Akhalgori are still without accommodation and compensation. 

A citizen should deliver the notification to the Ministry of Refugees, which will grant the status to the applicant based on that notification.

The Head of the Akhalgori legitimate government, Zurab Gatenashvili, who was elected to the position this spring, told humanrights.ge that not every resident of the Akhalgori district holds IDP status. 

Zurab Gatenashvili: “I do not exactly know how many citizens do not have IDP status. Some of them have not even applied to us for the status. Others applied for the status but did not deserve it. Only the people, who permanently lived in the district before the armed conflict, should get the status. A person might have a house or some other property there, but did not permanently live there. The Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Refugees and Accommodation grants IDP status only to those people, who had permanently lived in Akhalgori recently. So, I think, maximum 10% of the status-less Akhalgori district residents really deserves the status.”

According to our information, about 20% of the Akhalgori district residents does not hold the status. Part of them said that they do not purposefully apply for the status. 80% of the Akhalgori district residents, despite of having IDP status, often arrive in Akhalgori and live there because de-facto government does not abuse them. Only those people are really displaced from the district, who had participated in the 1990s ethno-conflict. Also, those, who work for Georgian law enforcement bodies or different governmental institutions, are not welcomed in the district. 

It is noteworthy that before taking a status, an applicant should necessarily complain to the Ministry of Refugees (in fact she/he should lie) that he cannot travel to Akhalgori, that she/he has lost a house, etc. For that reason, an applicant registers in somebody’s house located in the territory controlled by the Government of Georgia. Otherwise, he cannot get the status.

The Akhalgori district legitimate governor, Zurab Gatenashvili, said that this issue is under consideration now and part of IDPs might lose the status. “Some of them have illegally received the status; so, the status will be seized from them,” Gatenashvili said. 

It is noteworthy that people, who had only holiday-houses in Akhalgori district, received IDP status, cottage and compensations. They were called “season residents”. The Chairman of the Cottage and Compensation Distribution Commission personally confirmed this fact during one TV-interview. 

“Those, who are in the category of “season residents” did not deserve this status. The main requirement for granting the status is to be at least 2-year permanent resident of the Akhalgori district before 2008. Currently, we are checking the facts, where status were granted to season residents and recently received cottage or compensation. The ministry permanently inquires about different people, whether he/she really lived in Akhalgori. They rely only on our notification and conclusions. We have declined about 20% of received letters. Nobody will dare to issue incorrect notifications. If we prove that a cottage or compensation was issued to season residents, the authority, which granted the status, will be held responsible for illegal decision. They do not deserve cottage or compensation,” the Akhalgori district governor said.

As for the Ekaterine Kokashvili’s case, the governor promised to study her case.

Nona Kurdovanidze works on the IDP issues at the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. She clarified that if a person had lived permanently in the Akhalgori district before the war, should receive an IDP status; also, if a person owns a property in the district (ex. house) but did not live in the district, cannot get a status. If the person had lived in Akhalgori and owned a house there, but is registered in Tbilisi or elsewhere, he/she should get IDP status. In this case, the local municipality should issue a notification on his/her residence in the district, or other document to prove it.