The
Georgian authorities must do more than the bare minimum to provide adequate
housing, employment and access to health care to those displaced in conflicts
in the 1990s and the war with Russia in August 2008, Amnesty International
said in a new report, In
the waiting room: Internally displaced people in Georgia,
published today.
The new report documents how thousands
of people displaced during the conflicts struggle to access basic services.
"Displaced people need more than just roofs over their heads. They need
the government to ensure employment, access to health care and benefits.
They also need to be consulted and be able to make the choices affecting
their lives," said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia program director.
"Displaced people have the right to return to their homes in dignity and
safety," said Duckworth. "However, the government has the obligation
to those who cannot or do not want to do so to integrate or to resettle
them in other parts of the country."
About six percent of the Georgia's population
(approximately 246,000 people) is displaced within the country. About 220,000
of these left their homes during conflicts that took place in the early
1990s.
Another 128,000 people fled South Ossetia and the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia
during and after the Georgian-Russian war in August 2008. The majority
of them have since returned to their homes, but close to 26,000 people
are still unable to return, and will not be able to do so in the foreseeable
future.
In 2007, the Georgian government began to devise and implement program
to provide durable housing to those displaced with international assistance.
However, many of those who fled their homes nearly two decades ago are
still living in hospitals or military barracks that lack basic hygienic
conditions and privacy. Some of the new settlements are located in rural
areas lacking essential infrastructure.
Government assistance has yet to reach those who live with family members
or in rented flats. Many complain that they have not been consulted about
measures directly affecting their lives.
"All those displaced are still suffering from the consequences of war,"
said Duckworth.
"Displaced people need durable solutions and they need them fast
so that they can claim their lives back."
Displaced people suffer from high unemployment,
and there are still no comprehensive government programs targeting this
issue. Poor living conditions and poverty undermine the health of displaced
people while the lack of information and the costs for medical treatment
make it even more difficult for them to get health care.
"The Georgian government has taken important steps, but housing solutions
have to go hand in hand with health care, employment and livelihoods opportunities,"
said Duckworth. "This is the only way to fully integrate the tens of thousands
of its citizens still living in limbo."
As Iza, displaced woman in a collective center in Kutaisi, told Amnesty
International:
"Seventeen years ago, when the war broke
out, I was a student of foreign languages at the state university, but
never finished. Now my son is in high school, but I do not have any means
to afford his university education. I cannot rebuild my future anymore,
maybe I no longer have the prospects of ever finding employment, but I
ask the government to at least give more prospects to my children so they
have a better future."
