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Round Table- the issues of the Romani people in Georgia

July 24, 2015
 
Natia Gogolashvili

On July 20, at the Human Rights House Tbilisi, there was a round table about the problems of the Romani people in Georgia. Human rights defenders and representatives of the Romani community discussed the existing issues. 

A project assistant of European Center for Minority Issues, Elene Proshikian said that nowadays almost 2000 Romani live in 5 regions of Georgia: Kutaisi, Adjara, Tbilisi, village Gachiani and village Tchoeti in Kakheti region. According to her, the Romani people in these regions mostly suffer from social problems.

“Many Romani people in Georgia do not have IDs; because of this they are not able to get a social allowance. The education of the Romani is also a huge problem. It is important for the governmental bodies to work in this direction, so the children can get an elementary education. This will be the first step for integration, for children to see a different life. Domestic violence is also an issue. It is notable that we do not talk about this in the community. However, we all know that the women are victims of violence and they require help for sure,”- says Elene Proshikian.

According to the executive secretary of the Council of Minorities established at the Public Defender’s office, Izabela Osipova, among the ethnic minorities, the Romani people are in the worst situation in Georgia: “it is difficult for the representatives of the Romani community to be in this situation. Children have no birth certificates and that is why they are not able to go to school. They have many problems related to a real estate; they are not able to use a social allowance. We can say that in Georgia the Romani people are the ethnic minorities who have the worst situation and they need help.”

A representative of the Eastern Partnership of Minorities Network, Shorena Kobaidze, the problems of the Romani have not changed for years and remained as an unsolved issue: “The problems that were faced by the Romani people several years ago are absolutely identical to today’s problems. This means that it requires more engagement and coordination of those organizations and human rights defenders who work on solving the problems of the Romani, so the result will be more effective.”

According to the chair of the board of Human Rights House Tbilisi Nino Elbakidze, the lawyers of the organization work actively to solve the problems of the Romani people. At this moment, there is an ongoing process of arranging the documents of the Romani. 

“We are conducting a project “Human rights in regions”. Under this project, we go to different districts of Georgia and study the human rights issues at the place. During one of these visits, we met the Romani people who live in Gachiani, district Gardabani. They have a lot of problems. Many of them have no IDs, which causes problems for them to use state services. At the first stage, our lawyers are helping them to get identity cards. The next stage will be to register their properties. Despite the fact that the Romani people built houses many years ago and live in these houses, some of the families have not registered the property. Accordingly, they need title deeds,”- says Nino Elbakidze. 

It is notable that the project “Human rights in regions” has been conducted for year. Human rights defenders provide free legal and psychological assistance for vulnerable groups. 

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