Years of Living in DespairA collective center in the former

Kvari hotel on a busy Tbilisi street hasbeen home to 11 IDP families for morethan 19 years. The lack of maintenancecombined with poor constructionmethods means the building hasdeteriorated dramatically and iscurrently in a deplorable condition.According to the Samkharauli Bureau ofExpertise the structure is dangerouslyunsound and requires demolishing.

DRC visited the building in Octoberand found very poor living conditions: aleaking roof, decrepit toilets shared byall residents, no bathrooms, cramped,unsanitary living conditions and wallswith structural cracks. Inhabitants saidthe whole building shakes when largervehicles pass.

No‐One's LandAs well as IDPs settled by the State,

non­IDPs have taken up residence in thebuilding without permission orregistering. The exact number of theseinformally settled families is not known.

Many of these non­IDP familiesresiding in the former Kvari hotel areextremely poor and are living below thepoverty line. While they qualify for alittle financial support under the stateprogram for socially vulnerable families,they endure the conditions because theyhave no alternative place to go.

Collapsing Collective CentresDRC investigates deplorable living conditions of IDPs and sociallyvulnerable families in collapsing collective centres.

Due to the bulding’s unsoundstructure, the Ministry for InternallyDisplaced Persons, Accommodation andRefugees (the MRA) will not allow IDPsto privatize their living spaces. Thismeans that, within the framework of itsongoing durable housing allocationprogramme, the MRA is required tooffer these IDPs alternativeaccommodation. However, the MRA hasno obligation to non­IDPs andconsequently, unless they find analternative, this group will becomehomeless once the building is closed.

The 2006 Law on Social Assistance

BackgrounderDRC South Caucasus

Issue #2, November 2015

defines someone as homeless if they arewithout a permanent place of residenceand are registered as homeless withtheir local government authorities [1].Article 18 of the Law obliges the localgovernment to provide them withshelter. However, due to anoverwhelming lack of state socialhousing stock and budgetary resourcesto build social housing, localgovernment is often unable to meet thehousing needs of homeless people [2].

It is indeed a paradox of Statepolicy that the Government of Georgiainvests State as well as donor funds to

normative act regarding activities toassist homeless people during the winterof 2013­2014. As a result, temporaryshelter in the form of tents was set up.But this and the monetary compensationprogramme while providing muchneeded immediate relief were onlytemporary solutions.

In 2014­2015 the MRA requestedthe Samkharauli Bureau of Expertise toinspect 70 buildings where IDPs live andwhich have questionable structuralintegrity. 61 buildings are collectivecentres (CCs) and the remaining 9 havebeen informally settled by homelessIDPs and non­IDPs. 37% of thesebuildings are either in the process of orhave already been vacated (26buildings). Of the remaining 44buildings the investigation found 38 tobe in poor condition ranging from“collapsing” to being in an“unsatisfactory condition” ­ the majoritybeing CCs.

According to the MRA’s records,approximately 800 IDP families live inthese buildings (termed ‘collapsingcollective centres’ or CCCs) comprisingaround 2,500 persons8. The MRAthough does not possess accurate dataon the number of informally settledfamilies residing in them. However,following DRC visits to collapsing andnon­collapsing CCs it can be assumedthat many if not all CCs contain somenon­IDP socially vulnerable people.

Furthermore a few years ago,monitoring by DRC, EUMM and thePDO of 70 CCs found nearly all wereunsound. However, the number of non­IDP families, was not recorded at thetime.Furthermore a few years ago,monitoring by DRC, EUMM and thePDO of 70 CCs found nearly all wereunsound. However, the number of non­IDP families, was not recorded at the

solve the housing problems of IDPs butis passive in creating a housing fund forhomeless families. As a consequence,some of the most vulnerable in societyare forced by circumstances beyondtheir control to live in dangerousconditions.

Some local government units havesolved the homeless issue for smallgroups of homeless people by providingfunds to rent an apartment. [3]

However, these funds usually coveronly a few months and then the supportis withdrawn, leaving families exposedagain to homelessness and forcing themto move into potentially dangerousaccommodation such as collapsingcollective centers.

Clearly this cycle of homelessnessand uncertainty impacts theeducational, psychological and socialdevelopment of children in thesevulnerable families and places anintolerable burden on households –many of whom are headed by women.

Counting NumbersAccording to data provided by

Tbilisi City Hall to the Georgian PublicDefender’s Office, up to 10,000 familiesassumedly both homeless and facinghomelessness applied to the City Hallrequesting shelter in 2012­2013.However, only 46 families were assisted,22 with one­time compensation [4].Likewise, according to the PublicDefender’s Report on the Right toAdequate Housing, in January­September 2013, 194 persons applied toKutaisi City Hall requesting shelter butnone of them received it, due to a lack ofavailable housing stock or financialresources to pay rent [5]. According tothe same report 83 families applied toZugdidi Municipality requestinghousing in 2012­2013 and only 48

families were compensated withapartment rent [6]. The statistics ofthese three cities exemplifies the scopeof the problem.

The Swiss Agency for Developmentand Cooperation (SDC) in partnershipwith local self­government bodies hascarried out the “Social Housing in aSupporting Environment” programmeto tackle the problem of homelessness.This programme constructed socialhousing in 7 cities in Georgia: Tbilisi,Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Rustavi,Bolnisi and Gori.

However, while representing asignificant step forward in addressingthe issue, the houses accommodate onlya small number of homeless people: 75homeless families, including IDPs wereaccommodated in the Tbilisi socialhouses in 2009­2015 and 14 families inKutaisi in 2010­20147. As the statisticsshow above, the need for social housingis high.

On December 12, 2013 theGovernment of Georgia issued a

time.During its monitoring visits, DRC

identified the following problems withregards to collapsing CCs:

1. Lack of data giving a clear pictureof the scope of the problem, inparticular, how many non IDP familieslive in CCs and CCCs;

2. Lack of systems which enablecoordination between relevant bodiessuch as the MRA, local governments andthe Ministry of Labour, Health andSocial Affairs.

3. Lack of clear procedures toformalise coordination between theabove bodies when it comes to closingCCs and CCCs where non­IDP familiesreside and who face homelessness oncethe building is closed;

4. Lack of referrals which willensure that all families who have a rightto shelter receive it regardless of theirstatus.

DRC’s Position1. The Danish Refugee Council

believes that all vulnerable people,irrespective of their status are entitled to

receive their rights as set out underInternational and domestic law,agreements, protocols or norms;

2. DRC believes that when anyCollective Centre, irrespective of itscondition is closed, the most vulnerableresidents should not be left behind to alife of uncertainty and homelessnesssimply because they are not IDPs.

3. That when a CC is closed, IDPsare provided housing which integratesthem into non­IDP society.

DRC Recommendations• Create a Collapsing Collective Centre

Task Force to look at the issueshighlighted with regards to collapsingCCs and their non­IDP residents;

• Develop relevant policy solutions witha corresponding action plan andbudget with close coordinationbetween local governments, MRA andother relevant bodies;

• Establish the number of non­IDPfamilies live in collapsing and otherCCs through a rigorous profilingexercise. DRC with its extensiveprofiling experience is ready to assist

the government;• Create a mechanism where

Government bodies and other keystakeholders share relevantexperiences, systems and expertise toaddress policy reform;

• Create a referral mechanism to informlocal authorities about sociallyvulnerable and other potentiallyhomeless families that reside in thecollapsing CCs;

• Create a coordination mechanismamong duty bearers to ensure that ascollapsing CCs are closed, non­IDPvulnerable groups are not ignored butreceive the support they are entitledto;

• Create a social housing stock whichwill house homeless families in a waywhich will integrate them into broaderGeorgian society;

• Find policy solutions for homelessfamilies including consideringallocating empty State owned IDPaccommodation to homeless non­ IDPfamilies.

Six year old Reziko has been living in the former Kvari Hotelsince he was born. He lives with his IDP father and non­IDPmother. DRC came across Reziko and his mother Nino in thesmall hallway of the hotel (similar to the one you see on thepicture) where Nino was cooking food as there is not enoughspace in their room.

Angelina, a female IDP from Abkhazia has been living in thisone room without windows with her IDP husband and twosmall children (11 and 3 years old) for several years. OriginallyAngelina was registered as an IDP in Pakhulani village inSamegrelo but has never lived there. Their only source ofincome is TSA.

Eter T. is a socially vulnerable non­IDP originally from theMtskheta­Mtianeti region of Georgia. She informally settled inthe Kvari Hotel more than 19 years ago together with IDPs.Since 2011 she has been a recipient of Targeted SocialAllowance (TSA) for socially vulnerable families.

Eteri lives in two rooms that total just 20 square metrestogether with her daughter (23) and son (35). She says herfamily’s only source of income is TSA and she has no otherplace to go (she doesn’t have any property in her home village)and if she is evicted she will be homeless.

Endnotes:1. Paragraph P of Article 4 of the Law on Social Assistance.2. Source: Georgian Public Defender’s Special Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 13. Tbilisi, 2015.3. Source: Georgian Public Defender’s Special Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 14. Tbilisi, 2015.4. Source: Georgian Public Defender’s Special Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 12. Tbilisi, 2015.5. Source: Georgian Public Defender’s Special Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 13. Tbilisi, 20156. Source: Georgian Public Defender’s Special Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 13. Tbilisi, 20157. Source: Georgian Public Defender’s Special Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, p. 15. Tbilisi, 20158. MRA October 16th, 2015/ Letter # 01­02/08/27040

Contact Information:Svend Monrad GraunboelCountry Director for Georgia and South CaucasusDanish Refugee Council

#88, Paliashvili st., Tbilisi 0162, GeorgiaPhone: +995 32 2232437, +995 32 2230659 E­mail: drc@drc­sc.orgWeb site: http://www.drc.dk