UN lauds Georgia for issuing travel documents to Chechen refugees

The Georgian Government has granted Chechen refugees the right to travel overseas for the first time, earning praise from the United Nation for honouring a commitment it made when signing the 1951 Refugee Convention.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) applauded the Government after it provided Convention Travel Documents to eight Chechen refugees last Friday.

“That Georgia remembered at a time when it has many other concerns on its mind, such as over 400,000 IDPs [internally displaced persons], makes this even more remarkable,” said UNHCR representative in Georgia Peter Nicolaus, paying tribute to the country for standing by the promise it made when joining the Convention in 1989.

UNHCR noted that the availability of Convention Travel Documents for refugees is not always accepted by governments as a matter of course even though the 1951 Refugee Convention provides the basis for its issuance.

The agency expects many more of the almost 1,000 Chechen refugees sheltering in the Caucasus country to submit requests for travel documents to the local Civil Registration Agency office.

The right to travel is important for refugees because it allows them to take advantage of opportunities for education, training or employment, said UNHCR.

It can also make a significant contribution towards a durable solution for refugees, including the possibility of local integration, while also helping to prevent irregular movement as it establishes clear readmission obligations by the issuing state.

UNHCR is providing protection and humanitarian assistance to 992 Chechen refugees, around 280,000 Georgian IDPs and 1,500 stateless people in Georgia, which is struggling with the consequences of secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.