Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) evaluates the harsh social situation that developed in Marneuli and Bolnisi municipalities after the quarantine regime was applied on March 23^rd,  and calls on the government of Georgia to come up with an adequate policy of social support, including the implementation of effective humanitarian aid programs to provide for the quarantined regions.

The analysis below is based on data collected from media reports on the situation in Marneuli and Bolnisi municipalities as well as from the EMC hotline. EMC has been contacted by more than 100 families asking for help over a period of three weeks. Most of the requests were pleas for humanitarian aid from the government and for deliverance from their social hardship, highlighting the social crisis overtaking these municipalities.

Quarantine regime and the existing social crisis

A general overview of the social environment in the country and the region

The already grievous social situation in the country has been significantly exacerbated during the present state of emergency, while tens of thousands of families have been left in a state of extreme poverty and insecurity without their daily income. The social situation has been further aggravated in the isolated cities and villages within the quarantine, where there have already been structural problems in terms of access to social infrastructure and services. There are many challenges in this regard in the municipalities of Bolnisi and Marneuli, where a large part of the population consists of ethnic minorities, and fundamental shortcomings in the policy towards minorities serve to increase their isolation and vulnerability.

Recent studies in the country show high rates of poverty and social vulnerability. According to a UNICEF study, the level of general poverty in Georgia has increased. If in 2015 this figure was 16.4% of the total number of smallholders, in 2017 it increased to 19.6%. 19.6% of smallholders, 21.7% of the population, 27.6% of children and 17.6% of pensioners live below the general poverty line in Georgia. It is noteworthy that child poverty rates are higher in families with smallholdings. Every fifth child lives in a household whose minimum needs are not met.

A NDI, CRRC, UK Aid survey in 2019 shows that 61% of respondents do not consider themselves as employed, while in minority settlements this figure is 78%, and in rural areas - 68%. 54% of respondents believe that they will not be able to borrow 300 GEL without interest. 54% of respondents have taken a loan. In minority settlements this figure is 61%. 88% of respondents have no savings at all. In the villages, this figure reaches 94%.[1] It is noteworthy that Guria ranks first in terms of numbers of respondents having no savings, followed by Shida Kartli and Kvemo Kartli.[2]

Aside from Tbilisi, there is no region in the whole of Georgia in which the percentage of smallholder families, (at least one member of which is employed, with high qualifications), does not exceed 30%. It should be noted that this figure is the lowest in Samtskhe-Javakheti, followed by Shida Kartli and Kvemo Kartli.[3]

According to the study conducted by the Institute for Social Research and Analysis in 2019, 28.7% of minorities are economically inactive and 23.7% are unemployed, which exceeds the number of unemployed in Georgia  as a whole (according to Geostat, in 2017, 13.9% of the population was unemployed).

In the Kvemo Kartli region, a large part of the population is self-employed and earns its daily bread by daily work; most of them are engaged in agricultural activities or work seasonally in foreign countries.[4] Due to the unfair distribution of land in this region, a large proportion of local peasants work as cheap laborers on private land (in 2011, 43% of the population of Kvemo Kartli received income from hired labor). A small part is involved in trade. Thus the income of that part of the local population that depends on wages for casual, daily work, is insubstantial.

Thus, against the background of the difficult social situation in the country, the challenges in education, employment, language policy and the low political participation of ethnic minorities increase the social isolation and vulnerability of ethnic minorities. Moreover, despite the important role of agricultural labor in the Kvemo Kartli region (this region is in the prime region for vegetable and meat production in Georgia, and is the second most productive region for Georgia's dairy industry),[5] social infrastructure and access to social services in this region is significantly low.

The difficult social situation in Bolnisi and Marneuli and the inappropriate response of the government

Access to the basic social resources, including land and water, is limited in the villages of Bolnisi and Marneuli municipalities. There are often no grocery stores in these villages, or if there are such places, the products in them are so scarce that it does not meet the needs of the rural population. There is no pharmacy in most villages.

Since the quarantine regime came into force, internal transportation stopped and markets were closed, and thus a large part of the population was left without income. Most of the population did not have relevant food supplies and did not have the financial means to survive the crisis. During the spring, a significant proportion of the vegetables grown in greenhouses have gone bad due to difficulties with sales.

In this reality, neither the local authorities nor the central government were prepared to respond appropriately to the needs of families left without jobs and income.

Beyond the standard support of socially vulnerable families, the state does not provide unemployment benefits or other social support programs for the families who remain without income. The one-time humanitarian support of local governments is scarce, occasional and limited. The social policies of local governments have more the form of a charity and are not focused on creating sustainable services and support. The problem is also the lack of research on the social vulnerability and needs of the local community and the lack of human resources for community social workers.[6] 

80 families out of 100 in most of the incoming calls to the EMC bilingual hotline during three weeks, requested humanitarian and social assistance. A large proportion of the population stated that they depended on daily wages, agriculture, and daily labor. The cessation of the only source of income has left families at risk of starvation. Information about incoming calls to our hotlines to local municipalities is provided daily by the EMC team. After monitoring the requests for three weeks, it appeared that out of 80 requests for humanitarian aid, only 14 were met by the municipality, with an additional 3 requests satisfied by the local Imam Ali Mosque, as well by as the Evangelical Baptist Church.

In a situation where families with young children and single elderly people were on the list of humanitarian aid seekers, and who today are still without this aid, it is unclear what was the strategy and approach upon which the local government based its provision of this assistance.

It should also be noted that humanitarian aid was fragmented, occasional and insufficient considering the circumstances, in which families were left without a source of income for a month. The size of food packages is problematic, as large families are given the same amount of food as are small families.

In addition, during the monitoring, many citizens noted that humanitarian aid is circulated unfairly, revealing signs of nepotism. In particular, the residents of Marneuli Municipality had the impression that the City Hall was not responding properly to their demands and was distributing resources unfairly.

Many citizens told us that when they try to contact directly the person appointed by the municipality in order to discuss their problems, they usually receive a rude and inappropriate response redirecting them to the village trustee, which is an additional problem for many people, as some do not know the trustee at all while others are in a situation of conflict with him, and they naturally anticipate that they will not be included in the list for the receivers of humanitarian aid.

While the humanitarian support process in Bolnisi Municipality was more flexible and active, however, the circle of persons receiving the support was also limited. The criteria for providing assistance still seem vague. Thus, it is necessary to have a fair strategy and criteria, as a means of supporting families in need of social assistance, on the basis of which that assistance will be organized.

EMC's hotline was also addressed by people who were employed outside the municipality, mostly in Tbilisi, and lost their jobs as soon as the quarantine regime came into force, meaning they were left without any income. In addition, many people in Tbilisi had been employed in the capital, where they have had to pay rent, and subsequently lost their jobs. Thus, today they are left without any means to live on. The municipality of the capital redirects them to the Marneuli and Bolnisi administrations, according to their registration, without providing any assistance. However, these people cannot get help from Marneuli and Bolnisi municipalities either.

As our observation shows, the response from the municipalities to the humanitarian and food problems of the population is delayed, which is due to the lack of staff with relevant experience and qualified social service workers.

The social situation of the population is further aggravated by the limited access to drinking water. Due to the lack of drinking water resources as before, the population has to supply water to the families from the existing springs in the neighboring villages. For this, the villagers gather together and drive to the neighboring villages in cars, and therefore, they breach the government regulations restricting traveling by car. Another issue is the gathering of the population around the spring water in a village, which poses further safety risks. At this time, the fact of fining people for gathering was also recorded.

It is noteworthy that the severe social crisis created by the quarantine regime was protested about[7] by the residents from their own yards by honking their car horns, whistling and clapping, which was followed by an investigation by the State Security Service under Article 318 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes sabotage. It is noteworthy that the government did not respond to the social protests of the population with effective measures aimed at alleviating the current crisis, but resorted to punitive measures.[8] The population responded to the difficult social situation by local mobilization and distributing humanitarian aid, but the local self-government extended the restriction on the use of vehicles to such humanitarian actions as well.[9]

Flaws in communication with the community and the aggressive practice of fining 

Prior to the declaration of the state of emergency, ethnic minorities were poorly informed about the spread and prevention of the virus. Better organized dissemination of information began on March 23^rd with the help of the Public Broadcasting Service, as well as through the website and booklets of the State Representative. However, there are still significant shortcomings in language and communication policy. Among them, local self-government websites and in some cases social networks do not provide information in the language of minorities. The information available on the Public Broadcasting Service runs only for a short time and is limited (the amount of information in each language during the day comes to a  total of 10 minutes).[10] Internet access rates are low in the region. Under these conditions, information given to the local population regarding travel and other legal restrictions was still insufficient. 

The critical social situation of the population is further aggravated by the aggressive police policy of imposing fines. The reason for the fine is often that the population is not properly informed. It is noteworthy that in this difficult situation, the police have made little effort to play the role of informing people and preventing them from breaching regulations and have shifted more to the practice of imposing aggressive fines. For example, due to misinformation, after the quarantine regime was announced, the rural population of Bolnisi and Marneuli municipalities thought that the declared regime applied only to the towns and villages of the municipality and quarantine rules did not apply to the other villages. Many citizens have been fined because of this.  

Within the framework of the state of emergency restrictions were imposed on the placement of passengers in the vehicle, a number of citizens were fined in their own village for violating the rules of sitting in the car with their spouses or other family members. It should be noted that the patrol crews started patrolling the villages of Marneuli and Bolnisi as soon as the government decision was made, while the population did not have proper information about the implementation of these rules.

Improper or insufficient delivery of information has led to fining the drivers traveling from one municipality to another. Specifically, the family, who were driving through Marneuli municipality, were not properly told when crossing the municipal border that they could not stop on the territory of the municipality, otherwise they would have to go through a 14-day quarantine period. Due to the fact that they stopped at the store in this area, the whole family had to stay in the municipality, and at the same time they had pay the hotel bill. It was not explained to them at the border that they could claim compensation from the municipality.

Many citizens who have been temporarily visiting the municipalities of Bolnisi and Marneuli for various reasons, especially for celebrating Novruz Bayram, called the hotline. After the quarantine was enforced, they were unable to return to their homes. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is assisting those citizens to leave the territory of the municipality who were there only temporarily and could not leave the area due to quarantine measures. However, some of them have been waiting for more than two weeks for permission to leave the municipality. Most of them say they have no material resources and need to return to their homes promptly.  

Recommendations   

Given the above mentioned challenges, EMC considers it essential:

1. Considering the generated difficult social situation, the government should develop programs to provide assistance and relevant social support to families / people left without income;
2. For regions isolated in a strict quarantine regime, including the municipalities of Bolnisi and Marneuli, the government should allocate relevant humanitarian resources to meet the acute social needs of the local community;
3. The process of removing, delivering and selling agricultural produce from Marneuli and Bolnisi municipalities should be closely monitored by the government and this process should be made fairer and more relevant through consultations with the local community;
4. The programs of social support and humanitarian aid distribution of Marneuli and Bolnisi self-governments should be based on broader and fairer social and economic criteria for assessing the social vulnerability of families and their work should be more efficient, professional and impartial;
5. Marneuli and Bolnisi self-governments should supply water to villages that have no resources and infrastructure.
6. Marneuli and Bolnisi self-governments should ensure that their websites and social networks are managed in minority languages and inform the population about the pandemic, the state of emergency, government policy and social policy measures;
7. Despite the restrictions and the state of emergency, the self-governments of Marneuli and Bolnisi ought to understand the importance of regular communication with the population and of listening to and taking into account their needs, concerns and interests through democratic means;
8. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should understand the importance of public trust in the police and work with community-oriented police approaches, despite the state of emergency and increased responsibilities;
9. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should take into account the acute social needs of the quarantined villages and use the practice of fines in a proportionate and socially sensitive manner;
10. The Ministry of Internal Affairs should strengthen the importance of communication with the community and actively involve police officers representing minorities in police groups working in the field, which, among other things, will ensure overcoming the difficulties in communication and trust within the community.

Share