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Seizing of IDP Status from Akhalgori District Residents Started

December 3, 2013
 
Mari Otarashvili, Akhalgori 

Process of seizing IDP status from Akhalgori district residents has already started. According to the information provided by local residents, about 300 people had their status ceased in Akhalgori. People speak about it in private talks in Tserovani settlement too (Akhalgori district residents live there as IDPs).

Neither Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories nor the Akhalgori district administration names exact number of people, who had their IDP status ceased. They said registration of IDPs is still underway and refrain to make any comments so far.

“During repeated registration of IDPs, they sent us questions about the people, about whom they doubted. The Ministry requested to verify whether concrete person was permanent resident of Akhalgori district. We will find out everything according to the territorial entity. For example, if the documents show that person lives in Akhalgori, we forward his/her documents to Akhalgori governor; if he/she is from Ikoti (a village in Akhalgori district), we ask questions to the attorney of the Ikoti village. They should confirm whether the person had lived in the district before August 2008 war. In many cases, the attorneys sent negative replies to us. Or attorneys replied that the person had not lived in the district for the past two years. So, the status was seized from those people,” said Akhalgori district governor Zurab Gatenashvili.

Gatenashvili said they do not have exact statistics how many people lost IDP status. Registration of IDPs residing in compact settlements finished before October 28. Registration of IDPs residing in other places will finish on December 27.

Gatenashvili said they mostly discovered illegal IDP documents issued by the Akhalgori district administration and village attorneys. Based on those documents, people received either cottage or financial compensation as an IDP.

Based on this document, people illegally received status and then cottages or compensations. Although the status-seizing procedure started, responsibility of the people, who illegally issued the status, was not raised yet.

Akhalgori district residents expect that cottages will be seized from owners in Tserovani, Tsilkani and Prezeti too. 

Akhalgori district governor clarified that if at least 2 or 1 person in 5-member family holds IDP status, they will not face problems and keep the cottage; but if none of them holds IDP status and the cottage is not privatized, they will lose it; the cottage will be assigned to another person with IDP status.

Cottage was not seized from anyone yet. Currently, the authority is surveying who lives in the cottage in reality and who does not.

We learned that about 905 cottages were registered in Tserovani; 579 were not registered so far. In Tserovani settlement 1 600 IDP families out of 2 000 families are from Akhalgori district; others are from Liakhvi gorge. About 40% of cottages were registered in Tsilkani and about 50% in Prezeti.

According to Akhalgori district administration, from November 21 registration of cottages started in Tserovani, Prezeti and Tsilkani IDP settlements; the purpose of the process is to census people living in unregistered cottages. 

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