Refugees from South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia complain of bad living conditions

Refugees from South Ossetia who live in Khurvaleti village, Gori District of Georgia, complain of intolerable living conditions. Arina Tavakarashvili, a UN expert who is in charge of monitoring the refugees' living conditions, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in Khurvaleti the situation for refugees was bad from the very start of building houses for them. Refugees from Abkhazia also speak about heavy living conditions.

Let us remind you that the refugees accommodated in Georgia have repeatedly expressed their discontent with living conditions. On December 24, 2009, refugees from South Ossetia held a protest action, having blocked a railway section near Gori. This was the way they demanded to resume electric power supplies. According to the protesters, they were cut off for several days because of non-payment.

Refugees leave Khurvaleti because of disorder

Marina Bezhashvili, a refugee now living in Khurvaleti, says that some 25 refugees have already left the village. "They give out no more food and no more firewood under the UN programme. We spent the whole winter in cold. Electric power was often cut off. For this reason some of the refugees who could go to their friends and relatives left the village in hope that the condition would improve here," the local radio "Khereti" quotes Marina Bezhashvili as saying.

According to her story, she decided to leave the village because of her illness. Doctors put a heavy diagnosis, while the village has no conditions for treatment; she also lacks money for this purpose. She said that three members of her family get allowance in the sum of 78 laris (45 US dollars).

Eka Gulua, press secretary of the Ministry of Georgia on Refugees' Matters, said that the Ministry was not responsible for delivery of foodstuffs to refugees. "You should address the local UN representative office; and as to electricity cut-offs the company 'Energo-Pro-Georgia' should answer. We are fairly fulfilling our obligations. We have no relation to what you mentioned," she said to the radio correspondent who contacted her.

Arina Tavakarashvili, a UN expert, who is permanently monitoring refugees' living conditions, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the situation in Khurvaleti was bad from the start of building houses for refugees.

"They were placed there in autumn 2008. Brick houses were built in haste; they had no time to get dried. For this reason, residents had to heat them up day and night. For heating, the state has provided only two cubic meters of firewood per house. Despite authorities' promises, natural gas was not delivered to the settlement. Two cubic meters of firewood is just a scanty share of what is really needed for normal heating of such houses in these localities," said Arina Tavakarashvili.

According to her story, residents learnt post factum that their electricity bills will be paid by the state only till the New Year. "Starting January 2010, residents have to pay the electricity bills by themselves. But refugees were not unaware of that and continued heating up their houses with electricity, and accumulated debts worth 400-800 laris per family. The 'Energo-Pro-Georgia' often disconnects electricity demanding to pay the debts," Ms Tavakarashvili has noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent also telephoned journalist Saba Tsitsikashvili, who lives in Gori and deals with refugees' problems. "The UN programme of helping refugees with foodstuffs in the conflict pre-border zones was in force till February. A help parcel included a half kilo of sugar a kilo of flour and a half litre of sunflower oil. The state undertook to hold an 18-month long programme of payment for refugees' electricity, which was to end this February. Now it became clear that in fact the programme lasted for 15 months only, and for this reason refugees have now debts for electricity," he said.

He has added that he had recently visited the village himself, and confirms that the living conditions there are really intolerable. "People spent the whole winter in wet and cold houses, and many of them are now seriously ill," Saba Tsitsikashvili has concluded.

Refugees from Abkhazia also complain of hard living conditions

Refugees from Abkhazia - from the Gali and Ochamchira Districts - in total 26 families, were compactly settled in Anakliya village, Zugdidi District. They live in houses built in 2003. Roofs of many of these cottages demand urgent repairs, water is leaking, doors and windows are spoiled and rotten. Residents try to do something, but their allowances are so small that they can de very little.

50 teenagers live in the settlement; they have no chance to study. The village has no kindergarten, and the school is 8 kilometres away. Refugees say that they had addressed many times to the Ministry on Refugees' Matters and personally to Minister Subeliani, but all was in vain.

To seek answers to these questions, the Zugdidi-based radio "Atinanti", which has broadcast its reports about the situation of refugees in this region, addressed Leval Mikava, head of the Department Samegrelo Zemo Svanetia of the Ministry for Refugees. However, the official evaded from answers and said only that his Ministry has its promulgated strategy, according to which all the refugees will get their houses till 2013. He has added that the Ministry will surely fulfil its promise.