Meskhetins in Georgia are going to ask Saakashvili to legalize their status

Meskhetin migrants from Gori district of Georgia are going to submit President Mikhail Saakashvili a request to solve the problem of legalizing their status.

The Meskhetins declare that the Georgian government has settled them in a buffer zone near South Osetia and forgotten about their existence.

"We were brought here when Georgy Kheviashvili headed the Ministry of the Refugees' affairs with a repatriation department in it. We were provided with houses and promised property registration. We were promised citizenship. Then Kheviashvili was discharged, he left and we were forgotten about. Already three years have passed and we are still in the same position", Meskhetin Ruslan Suleimanov told a reporter of "Caucasian Knot".

The migrants state that Koba Subeliani, present Minister, pays no attention to them and ignores their letters and declarations.

The Meskhetins who were moved to Georgia from Azerbaijan in 2007 have no Georgian citizenship or residential permit. They are all citizens of Azerbaijan. The passports of some of them are expired and therefore invalid. To prolong the term of their validity these people have to go to the neighboring republic but they cannot cross the border without documents.

Without passports they cannot register dwelling property, purchase real estate, get a job or medical insurance.

However Sandro Khozrevanidze, head of non-governmental organization "Meskhetin International Congress by name of Khalil Gozalishvili", states that the living conditions of the Meskhetin families in Gori district are not so poor. Khozrevanidze who is at the same time an official of the Ministry of Georgian refugees is sure that they live quite normally and no one keeps them down. He assures that the Government is aware of their living conditions and problems and will soon provide a positive solution of the question of legalizing their status.