Study says the situation at Georgian refugee camps worse than expected

The study Problems and Needs of Georgian Refugees presented at Open Estonia Foundation today voiced concerns about the lack of objective information about the real living conditions of Georgian refugees. The international community and many Georgians themselves believe the conditions at refugee camps to be satisfactory, whereas lack of objective information reduces the amount of aid available to refugees and makes it more difficult for the international community to help them.

The study, conducted in September by Estonian sociologists Iris Pettai and Helve Kase, outlines the disparities in the help given to refugees. According to it, warm meals, clothing, medical and psychological assistance are available to 2200 refugees in Gori, which is a mere 3-4% of all displaced people. For the majority of the people living at the camps, living conditions are much worse: only every third refugee has received personal hygiene products, every seventh person has bed linen, every eleventh person has the necessary drugs, whereas children's clothes, school supplies and toys are available to up to two percent of the refugees. Many of the refugees fled home without being able to fetch basic necessities, i.e. clothes, drugs, or even personal identification documents.

The main reasons why help has not reached all those in need is from one hand the large number of refugees, but on the other the weak managing skills of aid organizers and lack of information. Refugees lack information about their rights and they do not know where or whom to turn to with their problems. The study found that lack of medical assistance is the main concern.

The study also indicated that refugees are passive and do not lead an active daily life. "Such passive state is very dangerous to a person, as it leads to the state of helplessness and resignation. A solution would be to start rehabilitation and returning to active work life programs ASAP. Refugees need clarity and positive expectations about their future," one of the authors Ms Pettai said when presenting the study.

91% of the questioned refugees indentified Estonia as one of the donor countries. Among the donor countries, Estonia ranks as the 4th right after such large countries as the USA, France and Ukraine. Although Estonian monetary contribution cannot be compared to that of the USA or France, it shows how highly the Georgian people value the help of Estonia. Baltic region in general ranks higher (8th position) than the the EU (12th position).

Estonian sociologists conducted to studies in Georgia. The first one investigates the humanitarian conditions of people displaced due to the Georgian-Russian conflict and 101 refugees were questioned in Tbilisi and Gori refugee camps. The other questionnaire was filled in by 206 humanitarian aid specialists including medical and educational specialists, social workers, NGO employees and state officials.

The study was conducted with support from Open Estonia Founation.

Additional information:

Iris Pettai, Estonian Institute for Open Society Research
Phone +372 56 21 35 26
Iris.pettai@neti.ee

Helve Kase, Estonian Institute for Open Society Research
Phone +372 56 210 569
helve.kase@mail.ee