Chapliani: Gipsies should be integrated into Georgian society

Koba Chapliani, Director of the Centre of National Minorities at the Office of Ombudsman of Georgia, thinks that the time has come for the state to make Gipsies an integral part of the Georgian society.

Today, a roundtable was held in the office of Georgian Ombudsman "Problems of the Gypsies Living in Georgia".

Ombudsman of Georgia Sozar Subari, experts and representatives of international organizations who deal with the problems of national minorities took part in the meeting.

In the opinion of Nino Tlashadze, who represented the "Centre for Defence of Constitutional Rights", the primary goal at this stage is to ensure registration of all the Gipsies living in Georgia.

"After registration, everyone will be able to receive the allotted help from the state and health services," Ms Tlashadze said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. So far, as she said, Gypsies in Tbilisi have no passports.

Human rights activist Emil Adelkhanov thinks that the population is tolerant to Gipsies. "Although Gipsies in Georgia are distant from the Georgian society, there were no Gipsy pogroms in Georgia like in Czechia, and they were not declared to be the main suppliers of heroin," Mr Adelkhanov has noted.