30 July 2013, 02:01
In Tbilisi, 15 vulnerable persons go on hunger strike to protest against eviction from their housing
In Georgia, law enforcers have begun the process of eviction of vulnerable persons, who nine months ago occupied the building of the former secondary school No. 13 in the Tbilisi District of Nadzaladevi. Residents refuse to leave the building, and some of them went on hunger strike.
The eviction was started on July 29. In total, about 30 families live in the building of the former school. People are to be evicted from the building because of the need to repair the building, and then it will be given to the internally displaced persons (IDPs). 15 families in extreme need who occupied the school building and who have no place of residence will be provided with accommodation in Kodjori, a suburb of Tbilisi. This was announced by a representative of the Ministry of Refugees of Georgia.
"The vulnerable persons have occupied the building without permission, and, respectively, the company has no opportunity to begin repair works, and the state cannot fulfil its obligations in respect of IDPs," the "News-Georgia" quotes Eka Gulua, the head of the press service of the Georgian Ministry of Refugees, Accommodation and Internally Displaced Persons.
Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the refugees, IDPs and vulnerable citizens of Georgia occupy the buildings, demanding that the authorities should solve their housing problems. The Georgian authorities promise to accommodate 40,000 families in specially constructed or renovated housing prior to the end of the year.
