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Socially Excluded Family Claims They Are Not Assisted On Ethnic Grounds

April 3, 2009

Zaur Makarichev, a resident of Telavi, Kakheti region, reported to the Human Rights Center that Agency of Social Services does not grant his family with the allowance on ethnic grounds, he is Russian. According to him, soon after the Russian-Georgian war in August of 2008 his wife Olia Makaricheva-Nareklishvili was fired from the Telavi office of the agency for Social Service where she worked as a social agent. Official reasons for the firing were not mentioned by the agency.

It must be pointed out that Zaur Makarichev has cancer and is bounded to the bed. The family of two members has no income at all. Consequently, the Makarichevs applied to the Social Agency for the assistance. During the first examination of the family the agency granted them with enough points to get allowance. However, when the head of Kakheti Regional Coordinator of the Social Agency, Otar Sesikashvili, learned about the family he ordered to examine the family once more and the latter was granted with high rating points. The Makarichevs applied to the local authority for help several times but nobody got interested in their problem.

The Human Rights Center got in touch with the Kakheti regional office of the Social Agency to find out the details on Makarevichs. The personnel of the agency denied discrimination of the family on ethnic grounds; however, they could not explain why high rating points were granted to the family.

The Human Rights Center calls upon the Ministry of Labor, Healthcare and Social Welfare of Georgia, office of Public Defender and administration of the Kakheti regional governor to react on the fact immediately.

‘We should point out that Otar Sesikashvili, head of the Social Agency in Kakheti region is uncle of former deputy minister of healthcare Vakhtang Megrelishvili; Sesikashvili occupied his position with the support of his nephew and Megrelishvili still protects his uncle. This claiming can be proved by the fact that despite many complaints of the socially excluded families about social agency in Kakheti nobody punishes Sesikashvili,” stated the Human Rights Center in its appeal.

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

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