Project title: Support to the Office of the Public Defender (Ombudsman) to Enhance its Capacity to Address the Situation of Asylum Seekers and Persons granted International Protection

Funded by: UNHCR

Project status: Ongoing

Project duration:January, 2015 –December, 2018

Project Objective:strengthen capacity of Public Defender’s Office in order to study human rights situation of asylum seekers, refugees and humanitarian status holders; monitor the human rights situation of persons of concern, collect information in order to promote compliance with the existing Georgian legislation and practiced and provided by international standards.

Project activities:

• Monitoring of human rights situation of asylum seekers and persons granted international protection (refugees and humanitarian status holders);
• Access to territory and asylum procedures from international borders in order to avoid violation of principles of non-penaltizaion, non-refoulment, non-discrimination and confidentiality at entry points of Georgia:
• Through site ad hoc and unannounced visits at international airports and border-migration control units and border divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
• Access to the asylum procedures:
• Reception Centers of the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia;
• Penitentiary establishments of the Ministry of Corrections;
• Temporary Accommodation Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs;
• Refugee status determination procedure (RSD);
• Monitoring of Court cases;
• Durable Solutions: Integration of persons granted international protection;
• Preparing the chapter “On human rights situation of asylum seekers and persons granted international protection” for the Parliamentary report of the Ombudsman;
• Monitoring of implementation of the law of Georgia on International Protection;
• Raise awareness of the Public:
• Information campaign to help raise awareness of public on rights of persons granted international protection;
• Regional meetings with NGO and Media on rights of asylum seekers and persons granted international protection and Government’s obligations;
• Public lecturer for students, professors, media, representatives of civil society on millions of displaced persons;
• Regional conference on international protection of refugees and integration issues;
• Strengthening Capacity:
• Training for students on refugee issues within the framework of Human Rights Academy of Public Defender;
• Training for newly hired and current PDO Tbilisi and regions’ staffs who are working on refugee issues;
• Working meeting on implementation of law of Georgia on International Protection;
• Experience sharing visits of representatives of PDO to a European country in order to gain best practiced from an ombudsman;s institution on their work with asylum cases.

The document agreed with the Government of Georgia:agreement between the Government of Georgia and United Nations High Commissionaire of Refugees (UNHCR) on 11 September 1996.