21.07.2006 - Source: EurasiaNet

1,500 Greeks remain in Tsalka; others have left mostly to Greece and return only for Easter; upon return they often find their houses occupied by newcomers and property stolen; neither local authorities nor central authorities are able to regulate this problem ("Georgia’s Greeks: Trying to Come Home") [ID 15866]

"[...] For nearly 200 years, Greeks, Georgians, Russians and Armenians in Tsalka shared the same churches, cemeteries and family ties. Tsalka’s ethnic Greeks are descendants of refugees from eastern Turkey who came to Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire, after Greece’s War of Independence (1821-1831) against the Ottoman Empire. Thirteen years ago, Greeks made up 70 percent of Tsalka’s population, or some 30,000 people. Then, in the early 1990s, ethnic Greeks, like many Georgians, left Georgia to look for better lives and work, mostly heading to Greece, where citizenship laws facilitated their return. Today, just 1,500 Greeks remain in Tsalka. These Greeks are mostly elderly, although a few young families are struggling to stay, too. [...] Most of those Greeks who stayed behind in Tsalka say that they live in an increasing state of fear. As local crime rates have risen, blame has fallen on the most recent arrivals -- migrants from Georgia’s remote mountain region of Svaneti and the Black Sea autonomous republic of Achara.. (By contrast, complaints are not heard about refugees from the breakaway region of Abkhazia, who arrived in the early 1990s.) Many of these individuals, local Greeks charge, have taken residence in homes owned by emigrant Greeks, often stealing property left behind, or refusing to leave the house when owners ask. Consequently, locals say, the numbers of Greeks returning to Tsalka for Easter each year is decreasing. [...] Neither the local authorities nor the central government in Tbilisi have been able to regulate the clash over housing as newcomers arrive from other parts of Georgia and ethnic Greeks depart. No established system exists to supply migrants or refugees with housing in accordance with the law. Former President Eduard Shevardnadze’s administration had begun to address the housing problem by buying houses, but inefficiency and corruption hindered any real progress. In 2004, President Mikheil Saakashvili’s government made the Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation responsible for handling the relocation process. To provide housing for displaced persons from Abkhazia, Achara and Svaneti, the new administration is offering emigrants between $2,000 and $3,000 for their homes. In 2006, the Georgian state budget allocated 1,000, 600 lari (about $549,000) to purchase homes throughout Georgia for the resettlement of refugees and displaced persons.Most Greeks, however, are unwilling to sell their homes for such a small sum and few have been sold. But raising the cash to buy a residence at market rates remains a challenge for local residents as well. Jobs are scare in this region, and though the nearby Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and a new highway to Tbilisi are expected to stir economic activity eventually, the material benefits have not hit yet. [...] Nonetheless, many of Tsalka’s Greeks say that they feel powerless to stop the takeover of homes and property, and believe the lack of support is part of a deliberate policy by the Georgian government to force them to leave the region. Some add that they do not speak out for fear of reprisals. Georgian officials, however, have denied that any attempt is being made in the region to uproot minorities in favor of ethnic Georgians. Still, confrontations occur often and are rarely reported. [...] A far more brutal clash occurred in February 2005 when a group of ethnic Svans allegedly broke into the house of a 60-year-old ethnic Greek, beating him to death, and severely pummeling his wife. The group was later apprehended and sentenced to prison. The following month, however, several people were injured during clashes between Georgians and local Greeks and Armenians after an ethnic Greek family was assaulted in a burglary attempt in the Tsalka village of Avralo. After visiting the region, Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili set up a police unit of 30 officers to maintain the peace, but stated that ethnic conflict was not the cause of the dispute. [...]"

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