Georgian Ombudsman demands state to pay for Ukranian refugees' accommodation
Ukrainian refugees are evicted in Georgia
Ukrainian refugees in Georgia, whose living costs were paid by the state, were asked to vacate their housing. The People’s Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria announced this in a special statement.
The statement said that Ukrainian citizens were warned to leave their homes in the coming days, starting May 6, which could leave these families on the street.
According to the Ombudsman, at the same time, media reports that the Georgian government has decided to increase funding for social assistance to Ukrainians, including housing costs, which is welcome.
“However, it should be noted that a regulatory decision on this financing has not been made, an official statement has not been posted on the website of any relevant state body, and representatives of relevant departments do not have information on this specific issue. In addition, IDPs from Ukraine do not know what will happen to them in the near future”, the Ombudsman said in a statement.
Nino Lomjaria also urged the Georgian government to take all necessary measures to make concrete decisions as soon as possible and “properly inform individual departments, as well as IDPs from Ukraine, about how, when and where they will be resettled”.
According to preliminary estimates, more than 8 million people have left Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The majority moved to the EU countries, and they are also received by neighboring Moldova.
Despite the statements of some representatives of the Georgian government that the country is ready to assist Ukraine in terms of accepting refugees, it is not yet known whether there is any plan in this regard.
Acting Ambassador of Ukraine to Georgia Andriy Kasyanov spread the latest information about this a month ago. According to him, there are 20,723 Ukrainian refugees in Georgia, including 4,500 children.
“Most of the Ukrainian refugees who have recently arrived in Georgia are from Mariupol. These citizens arrive in Georgia through enemy territory, in a very difficult way, in search of asylum”, Kasyanov said.
On May 5, it was reported that the management of the Tanamgzavri Hotel in Batumi asked Ukrainian refugees living in the hotel to vacate their rooms within a few days. However, the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Adjara (an autonomous republic within Georgia) assures that the government will not leave homeless any citizen of Ukraine temporarily residing in Adjara due to hostilities.
The Chairman of the Department of Tourism notes that hotel owners have provided Ukrainians with hotel rooms free of charge or at a discount. Due to the start of the tourist season, the Department of Tourism is trying to find alternative accommodation for them.
