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
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.