IOM report on deported Meskhetians
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 18:34:13 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: IOM report on deported Meskhetians
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: John Jaworsky <[email protected]>
IOM report on deported Meskhetians
(From the moderator: The same information was posted to the MINELRES
list also by Felix Corley)
PUBLICATION: Deported Meskhetians, International Organization for
Migration
International Organization for Migration
Deported Peoples of the Former Soviet Union: The Case of the
Meskhetians
Following the break-up of the Soviet Union several of the new states
found themselves responsible for dealing with migration problems which
had largely been ignored during Soviet times. One of the most complex
of these was how to resolve the problems of the formerly deported
peoples. As a result of the mass deportations that occurred in the
former USSR in the late 1930s and 1940s, eight entire nations were
forcibly removed to eastern and central Siberia and the Central Asian
republics.
This study published by the International Organization for Migration
considers the case of one of these formerly deported peoples - the
Meskhetians. Unlike other formerly deported peoples, only a few
hundred Meskhetians, out of an estimated population of 300,000
persons, have managed to return to their original homeland - Georgia.
During their many years in exile the Meskhetians campaigned actively
to be given the right to return to Georgia. At the end of 1996, the
Georgian Government expressed, through a Presidential Decree, its
intention to develop a programme to facilitate the repatriation of a
small number of Meskhetians. In view of this policy development, IOM
felt that it would be timely to prepare a short study on the
Meskhetians, in order to have the benefit of updated information on
this population and a better informed view of the likely policy and
programming implications.
This study is based on interviews which were conducted with government
officials, NGOs, and representatives of foreign governments and
inter-governmental agencies in Georgia and Azerbaijan in June 1997.
The study traces the history of what happened to the Meskhetians,
presents a profile of their legal status and living conditions in the
CIS, and discusses the implications of Georgia's new policy proposals,
before suggesting a number of recommendations.
The study concludes that the Georgian Government has taken a
significant step forward in outlining a modest programme to promote
the repatriation of the Meskhetians. However, substantial work remains
to be done in order to translate this programme into action and lay
the foundation for a longer-term policy. That foundation should
include a more fully articulated policy, enacted legislative bases,
and detailed operational assistance components. The report concludes
that to proceed with even a modest return programme without such a
foundation may compound the difficulties of the population the
programme is meant to assist.
Copies of the report are available at 10 USD from Ms. Virginia Rault
at IOM Headquarters in Geneva (Tel: 41-22-717-9474, Fax:
41-22-798-6150, e-mail: [email protected])
----------------
(Moderator adds: This report is available also online at
http://www.iom.int/IOM/rea/mesk-contents.html. For more materials on
Meskhetians see the corresponding page of the MINELRES web site at
http://www.riga.lv/minelres/min/meskh.htm. For background information,
I would also recommend some MINELRES postings by Eldar Zeynalov,
Alexander Ossipov and Arthur Martirosyan available in the list's
archive.
Boris)
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