IDPs demand housing from Georgian authorities

People forced to leave Abkhazia in the early 1990s have still been waiting for the apartments promised by the authorities, announce participants of a picket held in front of the Georgian parliament building.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in total, more than 267,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abkhazia and South Ossetia are registered in Georgia. They are people who left their houses after the 1992-1993 Georgian-Abkhaz war and the conflict with South Ossetia.

Today, the IDPs from Abkhazia have gathered outside the parliament building with the demand to provide them with housing. They plan to continue their protest action near the building of the government office. Members of the opposition "United National Movement" (UNM) also came to the rally, the "First Channel" (Georgian TV Channel) reported on its website. A photo, published by the TV Channel, shows at least five persons standing in front of the parliament building with posters in their hands and dozens of people surrounding them.

According to Pikriya Tsaladze, a participant of the action, the protestors have been waiting for apartments for 26 years. "Let there be a commission to include refugees and members of various organizations. Let the government allocate more money. Today, 38,000 families are waiting for housing. We will not stop protesting, and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow there will be more and more of us," said the protester as quoted by the "Georgia Online".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 29, 2019 at 02:48 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.