Government Continues Resettlement of IDPs

Sopo Getsadze

Mass eviction of IDPs from accommodations convinced people that the government is fulfilling its goal – Tbilisi without IDPs! On January 20-21 the IDPs were forcibly evicted from the TSU students’ dormitory, from the former building of the customs department, from the Kazbegi Avenue # 25, from the third micro district of Vazha Pshavela Avenue and from the Kipshidze Street # 34.

According to official information, on January 20, 191 persons (65 families) were evicted from their accommodations. On January 21, more than 100 families were evicted. During eviction, the police officers physically abused IDP women and detained four of them: Julieta Tsindeliani, Irina Pirtskheliani, Bela Khergiani and Nazi Ioseliani.

Part of IDPs received notifications about eviction in December of 2010. They had to leave the accommodations within 10 days. The IDPs protested the instruction by the demonstration in front of the parliament. As a result, the government postponed the eviction date till January 15, 2011.

The forced eviction process was renewed after 7:00 pm on January 19 when the IDPs received new notifications about eviction. Alternative accommodations were offered in the villages of Kakheti and Samegrelo regions. Most IDPs find it difficult to change the residential area. The government could not find any other way but forced eviction to communicate with IDPs.

At 7:00 am on January 20, police officers broke into the former building of the Custom Department in Orkhevi settlement in Tbilisi and demanded the IDPs to leave the building. Soon the same happened in Bagebi settlement in the dormitory of the Tbilisi State University. The police surrounded the area of the buildings by bars. Yellow buses and trucks were mobilized in the area.

The police did not allow journalists and representatives of the non-governmental organizations to monitor the eviction process. They did not allow the representatives of the EU mission into the area. “The police did not allow us to get into the dormitory. Here we are guests and so we have to obey their orders,” said foreign observers in their interviews with us.

Initially, IDPs did not leave their accommodations hoping their resistance to police officers could have some positive results. However, the police officers did not give in. Periodically, the screams of women were heard from the building. In parallel to it, the trucks loaded with the furniture of IDPs were leaving the area in every ten minutes.

Later, the law enforcement officers and relatives of IDPs started quarrel because the police officers did not let them into the building. Those citizens, who did not obey the police orders, were detained at the place. Initially, they were taken to the Saburtalo district police station and then to the court. There, three of them were fined with 400 GEL for the resistance to the police officers. According to IDPs, one of the detainees – Nazi Ioseliani - lost conscious in the police car and the police officers left her in the street without attention. A taxi driver helped her to recover.

“I remember to be detained. The police officers put me into a black car and took me away. I spent about half an hour with them. When I recovered, I was drinking water. I do not know where my relatives were resettled. I cannot get in touch with them. They are so shocked that they cannot talk with me,” said Nazi Ioseliani in her interview with the Human Rights Center who soon returned back to the dormitory in Bagebi settlement by taxi.

In parallel to eviction, Nazi Ioseliani and other relatives of IDPs held protest demonstration in front of the parliament together with opposition parties. They had three main requests: to give compensations to IDPs, to register accommodations on IDPs and to return evicted IDPs to their old accommodations.

The opposition evaluated the persecution of IDPs negatively. “Their life in the villages of Samegrelo and Kakheti regions is impossible. There, they are offered only 4 walls; they will not have job and agricultural plots. There, IDPs will need about 100 GEL per day to live properly but they do not have similar income,” said member of the Conservative Party Lasha Chkhartishvili in his interview with the Human Rights Center. He said the government offers the IDPs several dozens of flats while the number of evicted people is more than 500.

Leader of the Free Georgia Kakha Kukava assessed the forced eviction of IDPs as vandalism. “Police acts against IDPs like Russian occupant army acted against Georgian citizens in 2008. The government breaches the agreement: they could not evict IDPs before compensations are distributed.”

“The IDPs were warned about eviction ten hours before. It is violation of the law. The police did not have right to start eviction. People could not even manage to pack their things,” said Lasha Chkhartishvili.

Member of the People’s Party Aleko Shalamberidze focused on the eviction methods. “IDPs were put into tracks and taken to unidentified direction. Two police officers were entering each flat and compelled IDPs to leave the place.”

The IDPs gathered in front of the parliament, filled in a form of a special appeal and then parted; the demonstration finished without any results. The government did not satisfy their requests.

On January 21, the eviction of IDPs started at 7:00 am again. They were evicted from the Kazbegi Avenue # 25, from the third micro district of Vazha Pshavela Avenue and Kipshidze Street # 34. The scenario was not changed – the IDPs were warned 10 hours before. The police officers arrived at 7:00 am and started to pack trucks with their luggage … IDPs did not even resist the police officers.

The eviction process of IDPs from Kazbegi Avenue # 25 was different. In this case, only trucks served IDPs – their luggage was transported to Ortachala based warehouse. Several IDPs requested the truck drivers to leave their properties in some places where they were going to shelter relatives.

In this case, alternative accommodations were not offered to IDPs. An IDP from South Ossetia Marina Maghaldadze said in her conversation with the Human Rights Center: “We lived as a three families in one yard in Kekhvi village and we all had enough place to live in. Here, only one family received an accommodation. When we inquired what criteria was used to grant compensation or accommodations to the families, they could not answer us.”

The IDP woman is going to shelter her mother and brother in the Tserovani settlement together with her husband and two underage children.

More than 70 families were evicted from Kazbegi Avenue # 25. Only 21 IDP families remained in the place who had managed to register the accommodation since Abkhazian war.

29 families were evicted from Kipshidze Street # 34. Unlike the IDPs living in Kazbegi Avenue, they were offered alternative accommodations though they did not accept the offer. IDP woman from Kodori Valley said everybody is going to shelter relatives. “Nobody will agree to resettle to Potskho, Bakurtsikhe and other villages.”

On January 21, IDPs and opposition leaders held another demonstration in front of the parliament but without any results again. Eviction of IDPs still continues.