21.07.2007 - Source: Civil Georgia

Tbilisi: Police force residents of building in capital's downtown to vacate their flats; incident triggers more allegations of abuse of property rights by authorities ("Dwellers Forced Out from Homes") [ID 20666]

Document(s): Open document

16.02.2007 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Tbilisi: government's bulldozers demolish private properties; destruction raises questions about how protected people’s economic rights are ("Property Rights “Bulldozed”") [ID 18911]

Document(s): Open document

31.12.2005 - Source: ReliefWeb

As many as 5,000 children might be living and working on the street; Rebuilding Lives Project provides them with basic opportunities to integrate ("Georgia: Humanitarian and development update Dec 2005 (UN Country Team in Georgia)") [#42042], [ID 6046]

"The Rebuilding Lives Project […] provides street and at risk children with basic education, socialization and vocational opportunities to integrate them in the society and make them active contributors in creating a new Georgia. The past decade has seen a dramatic rise in the number of street children. Recent data indicates that there may be as many as 5,000 children in Georgia living and working on the street."

Document(s): Open document

22.07.2003 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Monthly rent ("Reisebericht Georgien 18. - 25. Mai 2003") [#14436], [ID 6047]

"In Außenbezirken von Tbilisi betrage die Monatsmiete für ein gut ausgestattetes 1-Zimmer-
Appartment durchschnittlich 80-100 US Dollar. Die Kosten für Gas, Wasser und Elektrizität
kämen noch extra dazu. Eine vergleichbare Wohnung in Zentrumsnähe koste circa 150-200
US Dollar. Für Substandardwohnungen in den Außenbezirken wären 50-70 US Dollar.
monatlich üblich (50 Dollar für Wohnungen ohne Fenster), im Zentrum müsste das Doppelte
bezahlt werden (100-140 US Dollar).
Nicht ganz so dramatisch gestalte sich die Wohnungssituation nach Angaben des
Georgischen Roten Kreuzes, da ein großer Teil der Bevölkerung noch über
Eigentumswohnungen aus der Zeit der Sowjetunion verfüge und so nicht auf Mietwohnungen
angewiesen sei. Für Rückkehrer ohne eigene Wohnung oder Familienangehörige, bei denen
die Möglichkeit bestünde unterzukommen, würde die prekäre Wohnungssituation eine
Rückkehr nicht zulassen."

Document(s): Open document

24.07.2001 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Solution of the IDPs' accommodation problems in the cities seems to be impossible ("Tbilisi Struggles to House Displaced Georgians") [#15896], [ID 6048]

Document(s): Open document

07.2001 - Source: Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development

Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development: Mass movements of people who fled ethnic cleansing following the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia ("Georgia's Membership in the Council of Europe, Achievements and Failures") [#10549], [ID 6050]

"The conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia led not only to the loss of control of the Georgian
government over a large part of its territory, but also to mass movements of people who fled ethnic cleansing
and atrocities of war. According to the data of May 2001, there were 263 880 internally displaced persons in
Georgia, out of whom approx. 12 000 were from South Ossetia (or Tskhinvali region, as it is often mentioned in
Georgia), and the rest – from Abkhazia. In the end of each year, IDPs are registered and get IDP cards. During
the last year, the number of IDPs was reduced by about 10 thousand people.
The Georgian state pays each IDP who has private residence an allowance of 14 lari (about 7 USD) per
month, and 11 lari for IDPs who reside in compact settlements such as hotels, boarding houses, etc. The state
also provides 50 kW of electricity for free and pays for drinking water (1 lari). In compact settlements, the state
also is supposed to pay 4 lari per person for utility bills, but according to the Ministry of Refugees and
Settlement, in reality it only pays 2 lari.
Obviously, this is hardly enough for subsistence of IDP population. While some IDPs have managed to
successfully adapt to new conditions, most of them live in poverty. Petty trade is the most typical of their
economic activities. There exist tensions between IDPs and local population, who often blame them for
increased crime, unemployment, or lack of sanitary conditions in towns resulting from street trade dominated by
IDPs. 21 percent of IDPs are concentrated in Zugdidi district, the population of which have thus increased to
120 000 people.
As the process of conflict resolution was stalled and hopes for speedy return of IDPs to their homes
proved unrealistic, the international community and the Georgian government has agreed to carry out ‘new
approach’ to the IDP problem, that would aim at integration of refugees where they are and encourage them to
get involved in business projects. Several international organizations (such as the World Bank, UNDP and
others) agreed to combine their funds for developing grants or small credits program do encourage self-reliance
and business development among IDPs. However, so far different international organizations and the Georgian
government failed to come to common interpretation of this general approach, therefore so far this program has
not been successful. On the other hand, part of the Georgian government and society are suspicious of such new
approaches. They think that integration of IDPs in Georgian society and improvement of their economic welfare
may reduce their motivation to go back and lessen pressure on the international community to promote the
solution of the conflict in Abkhazia."

Document(s): cipdd-geo.pdf

12.2000 - Source: UN Development Programme

UNDP: Over 60 percent of households own their own homes ("Human Development Report 2000") [#10556], [ID 6049]

"The Georgian population’s living conditions are, on average, better than those in other CIS countries. Figure 2.4 indicates that over 60 percent of households own
their homes. Housing is almost universal in Georgia. [...]
It is true that living conditions inside a significant number of these apartments or houses fall a long way short of standards taken for granted in western countries.
Only about 50 percent of households have a telephone line and less than 50 percent have centralized or individual heating systems and are thus depend on
kerosene and electric heaters (Table 2.8). Nevertheless, despite these shortcomings, it should be recognized that Georgia has managed to avoid the expansion
of those "shantytowns" that have sprung up in almost all other post-communist countries of the CIS. [...]
More than 41 percent of householders have houses or flats bigger than 100 m2, more than 50 percent of
flats are over 80 m2, and more than 65 percent are over 60 m2. According to data collected by GORBI, 57.18 percent of householders live in their own flat
whereas 42.82 percent share the flat with parents or live in a communal flat. A significant number of households owns a flat (90.8 percent), while 1.0 percent rent
from the state and 0.9 percent from a private person. In addition, a remarkable number of households (25.7 percent) own a house other than the one in which
they live (for summer or winter holidays). [...]
The remarkable level of housing in Georgia is an inheritance from the previous system. Such inheritance can be detected not only in observing the distinctively
boring and ugly architecture of Soviet apartments, but also because little additional housing has been added since the Soviet Union’s collapse. Most private
investment in housing has gone on repairs inside houses and apartments, not on building new ones."

Document(s): Open document