A group of some 20 Georgian internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled Abkhazia during the 1992-93 war are continuing their protests against the Georgian authorities' plans to move them from the Tbilisi premises of a former publishing house to alternative accommodation in two villages in the west Georgian district of Zugdidi.
The IDPs were evicted from the publishing house on July 26. They threaten to renounce their Georgian citizenship if they are not provided with alternative accommodation elsewhere in Tbilisi.
They are reluctant to settle in rural areas, where they say it would be far harder to earn a livelihood. They plan to stage daily sit-in protests outside President Mikheil Saakashvili's Tbilisi residence.
Two more groups of displaced persons from Abkhazia currently living in eastern Georgia face similar problems. One group facing forced resettlement from Gurjaani plans to stage a protest outside the Tbilisi headquarters of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Caucasus Press reported on July 28.
They too protest that they will have problems earning a livelihood if they are moved. They say the EU provided funds to restore the accommodation to which they are to be moved on condition that the IDPs would move there voluntarily.
A second group from Abkhazia housed in a former college in the eastern town of Telavi are demanding repairs to the mains water supply to the building where they live, Caucasus Press reported on July 28. They say they have running water only for three hours on alternate days.
The IDPs were evicted from the publishing house on July 26. They threaten to renounce their Georgian citizenship if they are not provided with alternative accommodation elsewhere in Tbilisi.
They are reluctant to settle in rural areas, where they say it would be far harder to earn a livelihood. They plan to stage daily sit-in protests outside President Mikheil Saakashvili's Tbilisi residence.
Two more groups of displaced persons from Abkhazia currently living in eastern Georgia face similar problems. One group facing forced resettlement from Gurjaani plans to stage a protest outside the Tbilisi headquarters of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Caucasus Press reported on July 28.
They too protest that they will have problems earning a livelihood if they are moved. They say the EU provided funds to restore the accommodation to which they are to be moved on condition that the IDPs would move there voluntarily.
A second group from Abkhazia housed in a former college in the eastern town of Telavi are demanding repairs to the mains water supply to the building where they live, Caucasus Press reported on July 28. They say they have running water only for three hours on alternate days.