19:00, 11 August 2010

Tbilisi: refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia protest against forced eviction

Refugees' belongings, hastely brought out. Tbilisi, August 11, 2010. Photo: www.ekhokavkaza.com, by Nodar Tskhvirashvili

Today in the morning, the Tbilisi police violently ousted refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia out of the former building of the Headquarters of Russian Troops in Georgia; the refugees moved in there after the war of August 2008. Several hundreds of refugees tried to resist but failed; several persons were wounded.

Then, refugees held a protest action in central city, stating that the proposal of the authorities to move for permanent residence to Zugdidi and other cities, where they are offered apartments and houses free of charge, is unacceptable for them, since there is no work, and they will have nothing to nourish their families with.

The above building is offered for sale, and the government expects to get quite a lot from the investor, the Radio Liberty reports.

As reported by the government of Abkhazia in exile, which operates in Tbilisi, several years ago the evicted refugees received monetary compensations for buying houses; however, they failed to do it and moved into the then empty building of the former headquarters, the IA "News-Georgia" reports.