The refugees in Tbilisi who occupied a dormitory and a clinic demand from the authorities to set distribution of dwellings right

Refugees from Abkhazia who occupied the building of a dormitory in Tashkentsky lane of Tbilisi refuse to leave it demanding to put them on the dwelling waiting list. Refugees in the building of a former clinic in Bakinskaya street demand from the officials to determine the persons who really have a right of living in that building, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

We will remind that the refugees burst into apartment house No 7 in Tashkentsky lane on October, 2. 26 families were evicted from this house about a year ago. The participants of the action declared that the house belonged to them and nobody had the right to evict them from there. A representative of the Ministry for the affairs of persons replaced from occupied territories arrived at the scene of the incident. He promised the refugees that he would do his best to comply with their demands.

During the period from 2008 to 2011 refugees from Kodori gorge of Abkhazia lived there. However, in 2011 the state resettled the refugees from Kodori: part of them received a compensation of 10 thousand lari (about 6 thousand dollars) and the rest were resettled in other territories of Georgia. After that the building was reconditioned and remained empty for a year. After the building was occupied by other refugees the refugees from Kodori gorge who lived there earlier returned to the place.

For three days the refugees from Kodori besieged the dormitory not letting anyone in or out. They demanded to settle them there again. However, the new settlers declared that the refugees from Kodori who voluntarily left the dormitory earlier got their compensation and so, their claims sounded groundless. The people who barricaded themselves in the building did not let the representative of the Ministry for the affairs of persons replaced from occupied territories in fearing that the refugees from Kodori besieging the building might get there together with the official.

Refugee from Ochamchira Levan Bigvava said that some of the refugees from Kodori insisted on moving in on the ground that they needed living space expansion. Other refugees from Kodori claimed that they had reconditioned the building, therefore a certain sum of money was due to them.

On October, 6, the siege carried out by the refugees from Kodoriwas called off. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent found out that the situation was settled by the elders from Svaneti who persuaded the refugees from Kodorito return to the dwellings they received after resettlement in 2011.

There are very many refugee families who paid for their dwelling themselves all over Georgia, refugee from Sukhumi Irakly Erkomaishvivli says. "It is difficult to say exactly how many people like us there are. We need to create our own NGO and a database to find out where and how the people live, who really needs a flat in the first place. It must be a normal NGO, without any political overtone", Erkomaishvivli considers.

Every day new refugees come to the occupied dormitory hoping to find shelter there, Levan Bigvava says. "You cannot even imagine how many people come here but the whole living space is occupied! Nobody wants to know plainly their number and their fates", he said to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Now the refugees from Abkhazia who settled in the former dormitory in Tashkentsky lane are trying to adapt to the new place. It turned out that the reconditioning carried out in 2011 at the expense of the state was of a very poor quality. There is no water in the water-supply pipes and the sewer-pipe drains are joined unbraced and get disconnected in the interfaces all the time.

Gas in not laid on the building, so the refugees start purchasing gas vessels and electric stoves for the winter.

"But this is just nothing. We can pay the bills, lay gas and recondition the building ourselves if only it was assigned to us", one of the refugees said.

Speculation is rife among the refugees: some of them say that investors are going to privatize the building, others think that the building is being prepared for "elite" refugees. The second version is more probable because the building was reconstructed the way that one family could have three to five rooms.

At present nobody wishes to assume responsibility and decide whether to allot the building of the dormitory to the refugees or evict the new tenants. "The "Georgian Dream" has not yet appointed the Minister of Economy and Minister for the affairs of the refugees and ex-ministers wish to avoid extra responsibility", the refugees say.

The Ministry for the affairs of the refugees called to vacate three occupied buildings in Tbilisi

It should be mentioned that on October, 4, the Ministry for the affairs of the refugees issued an official statement calling for the refugees to vacate three objects: the building of former teacher training college in Mukhiani district of Tbilisi, the building of former neurological clinic in Bakinskaya street and the dormitory of the tank farm in Tashkentsky lane.

Out of all the three objects only the one in Mukhiani was vacated by the tenants who agreed to remain on the waiting list according to the strategic plan of resettlement worked out by the Ministry for the affairs of the refugees in 2007, "Georgia Online" reports.

The tenants of the former dormitory of the tank farm declare that they would not go anywhere for they were not put on the waiting list. The refugees in Bakinskaya street are still waiting for a representative of the Ministry to explain which of them have the right to live in the building of former neurological clinic and who must move out.

At present all the rooms in the building of the former clinic are occupied by 28 families while 41 families are registered there. However, it is impossible to find out for certain which of the tenants are registered in that building and which in other places because only two of the families living in the building confessed to be not registered there. The picketers do not even know the names of the people who moved into the reconditioned building, that is why they are waiting for representatives of the Ministry.