The Council of National Minorities of the Public Defender of Georgia is responding to the statements made by certain MPs at the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Diaspora Issues on 26 February 2019.

The Council of National Minorities welcomes the efforts of Members of Parliament and other officials in care of education, culture and identity-related important elements of our compatriots living abroad. However, at the same time, the Council believes that some statements made at the committee meeting (which were disseminated by the media and were posted on the Parliament’s website) contradict the international legal standards undertaken by Georgia, the country’s integration policy, national strategy and action plan of civil equality and integration, and the equality principles, commitment to which Georgia has declared years ago, which are aimed at promoting civil integration.

For the purpose of promoting civil integration in the country, the Council of National Minorities considers it important that representatives of state agencies, political parties, society and citizens deeply realize the necessity of equality and integration of Georgian citizens regardless of their ethnicity and that representatives of national minorities fully identify their citizenship with the state of Georgia. Achievement of the above is somewhat hindered by the statements treating the national minorities of Georgia not as equal citizens of our country, the rights of which are fully protected by the state, but somewhat as a tool and barometer of achieving even very positive results in relations with other countries, which kind of introduces the reciprocity principle for the protection of the rights of national minorities.

The Council of National Minorities of the Public Defender of Georgia believes that transition to higher standards of protection of the rights of our fellow citizens living abroad should be based on the norms of international law.