14 May 2007, 21:57
Georgia: refugees from Chechnya demand exit to third countries
Seven families of Chechen refugees from Pankisi Gorge, Georgia, have started a hunger strike in Tbilisi. The action is held in front of the Tbilisi representative office of the United Nations High Commissioner.
The hunger-strikers demand the right to be provided to them to leave Georgia for a third country, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.
It is necessary to note that this sort of actions have been permanently held in Pankisi Gorge, where the Chechen refugees are compactly living. According to 2005 registration, some 1600 refugees from Chechnya live in Pankisi Gorge of Georgia.
The refugees from Chechnya have repeatedly expressed their complaints concerning the financial assistance, which, as they say, they never received during the recent years, and the absence of respective education conditions for their children. Outgoing from this situation, the refugees demand departure to third countries.
Author: Alena Aleschenko, CK correspondent
