The First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia participated in the Refugee Forum organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and the UN RefugeeAgency in Georgia on June 21, 2023.

In her speech, the First Deputy Public Defender talked about the activities of the Public Defender’s Office in the direction of the rights situation of internationally protected persons. According to her, in close cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and with their support, the Public Defender’s Office has been carrying out systemic and proactive monitoring of land and air borders, penitentiary institutions, temporary placement and reception centers for asylum seekers, as well as the status determination procedures. The Public Defender’s Office also examines the compliance of status-related decisions concerning individual asylum seekers with human rights standards.

Tamar Gvaramadze also spoke about the problems and relevant recommendations reflected in the parliamentary and special reports; She emphasized the work of the Office at the international level, including the voluntary commitments submitted to the UNHCR Executive Committee Session and the Global Refugee Forum organized by the Swiss Government and UNHCR in 2019 for the purpose of monitoring the rights situation of asylum seekers and internationally protected persons, reducing the number of stateless persons and improving their rights situation.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, and the Ministry of Justice of Georgia/Public Services Development Agency participated in the event.