IDP settlements in Georgia: A “temporary home” for hundreds of families
With Ekaterine Todria
It’s been a year since our first information visit to Shavshvebi, a little village close to the town of Gori, 40 minutes by car from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Just next to the village, a number of cottages have been built. For the past 10 years, these have served as temporary accommodation for more than 300 families seeking refuge after the 2008 conflict.
Unlike some other settlements, Shavshvebi is less isolated. However, many still struggle with integration into local communities, have difficulties finding jobs and are trying to overcome psycho-social problems. With the job market already over-saturated, and no land to share, former teachers, nurses, and farmers depend solely on government subsidies of USD20 per month.
And then there are remote settlements, like Prezeti, for example. Surrounded by mountains, people in Prezeti have even less opportunities to reach bigger towns and find jobs, or to have access to medical facilities, education or social services. Access to drinking water is a problem too, especially in the summer. With no running water, gardens stay dry, and it’s hard to cultivate food.
Our visits to Shavshvebi and Prezeti are part of a joint mission with the ICC Registry, Office of the Prosecutor and Trust Fund for Victims, to meet communities affected by the 2008 conflict, share basic information about the Court and answer their questions. In both settlements, women are a majority of those attending Outreach sessions, their skin weathered in the sun and hands hardened by work in the field, women that lost their closest family members in the conflict.
They recognize the ICC by the name of the Hague Tribunal. Many questions come our way - about cooperation, mechanisms the Court has to bring perpetrators to justice, but also about victims’ participation in the proceedings and the possibility of getting assistance. People understand that, at the moment, investigators are gathering information. According to Court officials, ICC investigations are focused on “alleged crimes committed during an international armed conflict, between 1 July and 10 October 2008, in and around South Ossetia”. For many in these communities, what this means is a loss of home or loved one just over a decade ago, for which they still seek justice.
After the meetings, people approach us, eager to share their stories of loss and hope. At first perceived as a temporary accommodation, for many, these settlements became their home. Many bought the cottages for a symbolic sum of 50 cents. Their children were born in these settlements, they go to kindergartens – one built in Shavshvebi even - and as their grandparents would say, “they know little of homes their families were forced to leave behind”. “I accept that for the younger generation, their motherland is here and that life goes on”, one grandfather said. Still, hope for their return remains, along with the hope that, as they say, “justice will come one day and perpetrators will be punished”.
“What I dream about?” an elderly gentleman asked. “I want to wake up tomorrow and say to my grandchildren that it’s over. Peace and justice had come”.
Eka joined ICC not that long ago, in November 2018. Over the last decade, she worked with conflict-affected communities and IDs to overcome burden of economic and psycho-social hardship, assist with integration support, and reconciliation efforts.