A Heavy Burden
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A heavy burden Internally Displaced in Georgia: Stories of People from Abkhazia and South Ossetia A heavy burden Internally Displaced in Georgia Stories of People from Abkhazia and South Ossetia Acknowledgements Mary Kumsiashvili, Russian editor Tina Chkheidze, Georgian editor The completion of life stories, which culminates in the publication of this book, would not have Panos London, Olivia Bennett been possible without the participation of many Panos London, Wendy Davies IDMC, Beata Skwarska people, in particular, the displaced people who IDMC, Edmund Jennings opened their hearts and told their stories. We are English Editors profoundly grateful to them. Without them this Maya Darchia, Georgian translator book and the whole IDP Voices project presented at the web site www.idpvoices.org would not exist. Mari Manvelishvili, Russian translator We also would like to thank the non-governmental Irakli Khutsishvili, Layout organisations involved in this project for offering human resources and facilitating contacts with a Publishing house “Siesta” , Printing large number of the narrators. Photographs: Finally the project was made possible by the The photographs that appear in this book are not the interviewees. contributions of many other people committed to the displaced population in Georgia, including Photograph front cover: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We would especially Heidi Bradner, Panos Picture like to thank: A Georgian woman hauls a bag of belongings over the Abkhazia-Georgia administrative border, via a footbridge over the Inguiri River, after fleeing an outbreak of fighting between Georgian • Local NGOs involved: “Atinati”, IDP women’s partisans and Abkhaz forces in the Galsky region. association “Consent”, IDP Teachers’ Union Photographs back cover and page 22 (bottom, right), 84, 85, 104: “Lampari”. Yola Monakhov, Panos Picture • Manana Gabashvili Photographs page 21 (bottom right), 23 (bottom right), 52, 53: • Margaret Vikki Heidi Bradner, Panos Picture • Siobhan Warrington • Keren Ghitis Photographs page 23 (top left), 62, 76, 77: Oleg Klimov, Panos Picture • Greta Zeender • Matthias Thiemig Photographs page 20, 24 (bottom left), 40, 41, 48, 49, 72, 73, 90, 91: • All NRC Georgia country office staff Julia Komissaroff Project on refugees in Caucasus Special thanks to our donors for their support in Photographs page 22 (bottom left), 32, 33: this project, which made the publication of this Ingvil Marstein book possible: Statoil/Hydro (via NRC Georgia) Photographs page 26, 27: and (via IDMC) Australia’s AusAID, Canada’s DFAIT, Daro Sulakauri the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Photographs page 22 (top left), 63: Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and South Manana Gabashvili Africa, Sweden’s Sida , Switzerland’s MFA, Stichting Vluchteling, the United Kingdom’s DFID, and Photograph page 21 (top right): Tamar Tavartkiladze UNHCR. Photograph page 24 (top right): ISBN: 978-9941-9021-1-6 Keren Ghitis Photographs page 23 (top right), 24 (bottom right), 96, 97, 108, 109: Anne-Sophie Lois NRC archive. IDMC, Director of the IDP Voices Project Partial or total reproduction of the texts is permitted as long as the sources and authors are cited. Tamar Tavartkiladze NRC Georgia, Project Coordinator Distributed without charge. Contents Prologue ...................................................................................................................7 Team of interviewers ............................................................................................9 Selecting and editing the testimonies ........................................................12 Glossary...................................................................................................................14 LIFE STORIES In Displacement Teah .........................................................................................................................27 Peter .........................................................................................................................33 Engurdaleuli ..........................................................................................................41 Inga ...........................................................................................................................49 Temuri ......................................................................................................................53 Mzia ..........................................................................................................................63 Alexandre ..............................................................................................................73 Rosa ........................................................................................................................77 Eliso ..........................................................................................................................85 In Conflict Zones Zurab .......................................................................................................................91 Tamar ......................................................................................................................97 Ekaterina .............................................................................................................105 Zuriko ....................................................................................................................109 5 GEORGIA GEORGIA C a C u a Gagra c u a RUSSIAN FEDERATION GagraABKHAZETI c Gudauta (ABKHAZIA) ABKHAZETI s a RUSSIAN FEDERATION Gudauta (ABKHAZIA) u Mestias Sukhumi ZEMO SVANETI s u Mestia Sukhumi ZEMO SVANETI s Tqvarcheli Lentekhi M Ochamchira Tqvarcheli RACHA-Lentekhi o M GaliOchamchira LECHKHUMI RACHA- u o Zugdidi Gali LECHKHUMI n u Ambrolauri SAMEGRELO Zugdidi Mleta t n Ambrolauri Pasanauri BLACK Senaki SAMEGRELO Mleta a t Kutaisi IMERETI Kurta MTSKHETA- Pasanauri BLACPotiK Senaki MTIANETI i a S E A Samtredia KutaisiTskhinvaliIMERETI Kurta MTSKHETA- Poti Zestaponi SHIDA AkhmetaMTIANETI n i S E A Samtredia TskhinvaliDusheti GURIA Khashuri ZestaponiKARTLI SHIDA Akhmeta n GURIA Dusheti Ozurgeti KhashuriGori KARTLI Borjomi Mtskheta Telavi KAKHETI Ozurgeti Gori Borjomi Gurjaani Telavi KAKHETI AJARA T'bilisi Mtskheta Batumi ( AJARI A ) Gurjaani AJARA Akhaltsikhe T'bilisi Batumi ( AJARI A ) Rustavi Vale Akhaltsikhe Marneuli SAMTSKHE- Rustavi Vale Bolnisi Marneuli Dedoplis JAVAKHETI SAMTSKHE-KVEMO KARTLI Tsqaro Bolnisi Dedoplis JAVAKHETI KVEMO KARTLI Tsqaro TURKEY ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN TURKEY ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN 6 PROLOGUE When did you last listen to a displaced person and conflict and forcible displacement. They all had a good GEORGIA grasp the impact of displacement? Did you ever think knowledge of displacement, either through their what it means to lose close family members in conflict, work or through first-hand experience. The project lose all your belongings and to be uprooted from gave them the opportunity to develop oral testimony your place of origin? This book invites you to explore skills, to collect life stories and also to contribute in the personal reality of a protracted displacement planning and compiling the stories. situation. Thirteen individual accounts from Georgia, A total of 59 interviews were completed, 29 of which Abkhazia and South Ossetia give us an insight into were selected and edited for the website and 13 for the reality of conflict and displacement. These direct this book. Through participatory training workshops voices have the power to cut through prejudice and on oral testimony, the participants learned to carry political agendas, they speak for themselves. C out open interviews, to listen, and to handle sensitive a The focus is on universal human experiences and information. They were also trained to manage the u responses, not specific political issues. By reading what psychological impact on the narrator and themselves. c Gagra the displaced people themselves want to tell us, we The interviewers helped to identify themes for ABKHAZETI a RUSSIAN FEDERATION Gudauta (ABKHAZIA) s may learn what is important to them and what issues the interviews and develop ethical guidelines and u Mestia they are particularly concerned about. The process of appropriate security policies. Two review meetings s Sukhumi ZEMO SVANETI collecting these stories, whereby trained interviewers enabled the interviewers to give feedback on their Tqvarcheli Lentekhi M allowed the displaced individuals to direct the course experience and adapt the focus, carry out initial analysis Ochamchira RACHA- o of the narrative, allowed unexpected facts and ideas of the life stories, develop ideas for dissemination, and Gali LECHKHUMI u to emerge. It allows us to glean the reality behind identify advocacy targets. Through this project the Zugdidi n Ambrolauri t generalised notions of displacement. The stories voices of the displaced, who are normally not listened SAMEGRELO Mleta Pasanauri BLACK Senaki a stand alone with little analysis added – their power to, have been heard, recorded on tape, transcribed Kutaisi IMERETI Kurta MTSKHETA- Poti i S E A Samtredia Tskhinvali MTIANETI lies in their offering of images, a voice, sensations, word by word, read by a reading committee, selected Zestaponi SHIDA Akhmeta n Dusheti feelings, hopes and dreams. The stories gathered in and then carefully edited in order not to change the GURIA Khashuri KARTLI Ozurgeti Gori these pages complement more factual and analytical atmosphere and personal flavour (see Selecting and Borjomi Mtskheta Telavi