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Chechen Refugees Are Not Allowed To Go Abroad

December 17, 2007
Chechen refugees fall into a category of the population finding themselves abandoned by  the Georgian government. Georgian legislation does not give them the opportunity to move abroad and essentially forces them to live in the Pankisi Gorge, where neither basic living conditions can be satisfied nor jobs found.

The Human Rights Center operates a permanent monitoring effort in the Pankisi Gorge. The Center currently possesses certain materials relating to government and United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees violations of refugee rights. The Human Rights Center has prepared a report covering the 2006-2007 period and details these violations. 

The main problem that Chechen refugees encounter is Georgian legislation preventing them from emigrating to another country. The Human Rights Center filed suit on this issue with the Constitutional Court of Georgia in 2006. The Center stated that there was conflict between national legislation on refugees and the International Convention on Refugees, requiring the Court to find a resolution. After this constitutional action, the Parliament of Georgia instructed the Ministry of Refugees and the Ministry of Justice to issue a joint act, effective until June 1, 2007, that would allow Chechen refugees to move to a third country if desired. No act exists at this time.

Refugees face another problem in the government’s classification of Chechen refugees born in Georgia as Georgian citizens and not Chechens, even if they left Georgia long ago and received the citizenship in a third country. This automatically makes the Chechen refugees in question citizens of Georgia against their will.

In accordance with the Georgian constitution, Georgian citizenship shall be acquired  at birth or  as a result of the granting of citizenship of Georgia through naturalization. In this case, Chechen refugees have not requested their citizenship. Georgian birth is not an effective argument in these cases as they have already refused Georgian citizenship.

Refugees also come across problems created by a lack of appropriate laws specifically dealing with a refugee’s rights to moving abroad. Consequently, refugees are not able to leave Georgia.  The Ministry of Refugees states that the have sent a draft law on “registering, issuing and changing  the  travel documents” to the Ministry of Justice for discussion, but the Ministry of Justice claims they have received no such document. 

Refugees also have problems with the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees. With  imperfect Georgian legislation, only the UN High Commissioner For Refugees is able to help Chechens to move to a third country. In this case, the process is protracted and complicated, as many refugees express their dissatisfaction towards United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees publicly. Several demonstrations have been organised protesting UN work. Chechens claim that the High Commissioner does not pay sufficient attention to their situation.

Cases also exist of financial and humanitarian aid intended for one person is spread among several persons registered under the status of refugee.

The obvious example is the case of  the Kavtarashvili sisters. Three sisters (Zeinab, Sima and Khatuna) have their own families, children and live separately. Despite these circumstances, they receive humanitarian aid said to be for one person. They struggle to keep their families and themselves with incredibly small assistance from the UN or the state.

Under the Georgian Law on Refugees, if the article concerns a person in question,  he or she will be granted refugee status and will exercise  all the rights included in the Georgian Law on Refugees. The Kavtarashvili sisters, however, are proof that not all enjoy such rights.

There are other cases when the government violates the rights of refugees.

Duisi patrol police arrested Vahid Borchashvili, a Chechen refugee, on September 9th, 2006, and took him to the military department. In accordance with Georgian “Law on the Legal Condition of Foreigners” the foreigners are not obliged to serve in  Georgian army.  Borchashvili spent a moth in the barracks and he was not given the ability to contact his lawyer.

The Human Rights Center’s website frequently covers problems involving Chechen refugees. Certain conferences were held in this regard but the government has not responded. Chechen refugees live in a difficult situation and ask only that the Georgian government issue then the appropriate documentation and give them an opportunity to move abroad. 

Tea Topuria, Tbilisi.  


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