Asylum seekers, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPS) in Georgia : the challenges of social cohesion

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Georgia has been facing one of its most severe problems: the resettlement and socioeconomic integration of internally displaced persons from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region who fled as a result of internal armed conflicts. Over the past few years, the number of IDPs has increased due to the inflow of foreign nationals seeking to obtain either a refugee or a humanitarian status. These numbers have further increased following the obligation assumed by the authorities of Georgia to repatriate the Meskhetian Turks exiled in an organized way from Georgia in 1944. Although the definition of internally displaced persons provided in the legislation of Georgia does not include ecological migrants displaced due to the natural calamities, this explanatory note will also touch upon the issues of resettlement of eco-migrants along with the complex task of resettlement of the Meskhetian Turks and IDPs from Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region as well as the unified state approach to address their problems.