Six Families Have Spent Eight Days in the Street

Manon Bokuchava, Kvemo Kartli

From early September, eviction of indigent families started from different buildings in Rustavi. The space was purchased by the Ministry of Refugees and started their renovation for IDPs.

Illegally sheltered families in the former buildings of Georgian Polytechnic Institute and Kindergarten # 35 were compelled to leave the accommodations.

The local self-government released a statement that they do not have flat-bank and cannot give accommodations to anybody. Later, they offered a building in Davit Gareji Street # 30 to the homeless families with under-age children. 

 Former inhabitants of the kindergarten # 35 are also offered to shelter the same building but they refused to go there. The families evicted from the kindergarten have been in the yard for eight days already. Their furniture, household items and toys of their children are stored in the yard. They sleep in tents.

“I had been renting a flat for 13 years. Finally I could no longer pay it and turned up in the street with my wife and two children. I entered this building on October 5, 2012. Now, they evicted us. We urge the local and central governments for help. Six families were evicted from the building,” Giorgi Chkhitunidze, evicted from the kindergarten’s building, said. 

Living in the street is most difficult for Irma Diakonidze, mother of three children. She said one of her children has epilepsy and if she had to go somewhere, she would not have created threat for her child. 

“I am indigent person; my daughter has epilepsy. Who does not believe me, let them come and check it. During eviction I wanted to burn myself but the police stopped me. What else can I do?! We have spent five days in the street and local government has visited us only once,” Diakonidze said.

The evicted families did not allow workers to continue renovation of the building. They say they do not have house anywhere and the state is obliged to give temporary shelter to homeless people.