Kartli was built in Soviet times as a sanatorium for patients with heart conditions. As hundreds of thousands of Georgians fled Abkhazia at the end of the conflict in late 1993, authorities allocated about 200 families housing there in what was supposed to be a temporary measure. Thirty years on, 130 are still there.
Kartli was built in Soviet times as a sanatorium for patients with heart conditions. As hundreds of thousands of Georgians fled Abkhazia at the end of the conflict in late 1993, authorities allocated about 200 families housing there in what was supposed to be a temporary measure. Thirty years on, 130 are still there. © David Mdzinarishvili
Residents of the Soviet-era sanatorium-turned-collective centre Kartli protest against dire living conditions in front of the ministry of internally displaced persons from the occupied territories.
Residents of the Soviet-era sanatorium-turned-collective centre Kartli protest against dire living conditions in front of the ministry of internally displaced persons from the occupied territories. © David Mdzinarishvili
Neighbours chat in one of the corridors; laundry hangs in the background. The 14-square-metre rooms were meant to house a maximum of two people at a time, but since the 1990s have been home to entire families.
Neighbours chat in one of the corridors; laundry hangs in the background. The 14-square-metre rooms were meant to house a maximum of two people at a time, but since the 1990s have been home to entire families. © David Mdzinarishvili
Nanuli Shulaia, 62, is originally from Sokumi, Abkhazia’s capital city. In January, debris fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing her grandson. “We temporarily moved the kids to our relatives – staying here is very risky. New cracks appear on the wall every day, while the existing ones grow even deeper,” she said.
Nanuli Shulaia, 62, is originally from Sokumi, Abkhazia’s capital city. In January, debris fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing her grandson. “We temporarily moved the kids to our relatives – staying here is very risky. New cracks appear on the wall every day, while the existing ones grow even deeper,” she said. © David Mdzinarishvili
Nanuli Shulaia. There is no natural gas in the building. Most of the IDPs get their heating from pellet stoves or electric heating. This is not enough to dry up the damp walls.
Nanuli Shulaia. There is no natural gas in the building. Most of the IDPs get their heating from pellet stoves or electric heating. This is not enough to dry up the damp walls. © David Mdzinarishvili
Nanuli Shulaia in her room. “In Sokhumi, I left a three-bedroom apartment and two-storey house. When we came here, I started crying – how could we fit into one room? My mother-in-law reassured me that we’d survive here a few months and then go back home. I was 32 then, I am 62 now,” she said.
Nanuli Shulaia in her room. “In Sokhumi, I left a three-bedroom apartment and two-storey house. When we came here, I started crying – how could we fit into one room? My mother-in-law reassured me that we’d survive here a few months and then go back home. I was 32 then, I am 62 now,” she said. © David Mdzinarishvili
A resident of the Kartli complex folds laundry in a corridor where residents hang up clothes since the rooms are too small.
A resident of the Kartli complex folds laundry in a corridor where residents hang up clothes since the rooms are too small. © David Mdzinarishvili
The sanatorium-turned-collective centre stands by the so-called Tbilisi Sea, an artificial lake that serves as the capital’s water reservoir.
The sanatorium-turned-collective centre stands by the so-called Tbilisi Sea, an artificial lake that serves as the capital’s water reservoir. © David Mdzinarishvili
Irma Nachkebia, 52, from Sokhumi, shows the crumbling conditions of the building.
Irma Nachkebia, 52, from Sokhumi, shows the crumbling conditions of the building. © David Mdzinarishvili
Irma Nachkebia, 52, displays her abandoned house in Abkhazia on her phone. The photo was sent to her by acquaintances.
Irma Nachkebia, 52, displays her abandoned house in Abkhazia on her phone. The photo was sent to her by acquaintances. © David Mdzinarishvili
Irma Nachkebia and her neighbour Maluza Baghbaia, 54, from Ochamchire, watch videos of Sokhumi they found online.
Irma Nachkebia and her neighbour Maluza Baghbaia, 54, from Ochamchire, watch videos of Sokhumi they found online. © David Mdzinarishvili
Gela Ormotsadze, 38, and Diana Davlianidze, 49, discuss the government’s offer regarding their relocation. Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili offered IDPS in Kartli the possibility of either searching for a new place by themselves (the price must be maximum 550 US dollars per square metre) or waiting for housing due to be completed by the end of 2022. Before that, the government will provide 300 Georgian Lari (100 US dollars) per month to cover rent expenses.
Gela Ormotsadze, 38, and Diana Davlianidze, 49, discuss the government’s offer regarding their relocation. Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili offered IDPS in Kartli the possibility of either searching for a new place by themselves (the price must be maximum 550 US dollars per square metre) or waiting for housing due to be completed by the end of 2022. Before that, the government will provide 300 Georgian Lari (100 US dollars) per month to cover rent expenses. © David Mdzinarishvili
Gela Ormotsadze, 38, shows the deeply damaged walls in Kartli. The complex, comprising two buildings, is slowly collapsing as the foundations are fragile due to water infiltration.
Gela Ormotsadze, 38, shows the deeply damaged walls in Kartli. The complex, comprising two buildings, is slowly collapsing as the foundations are fragile due to water infiltration. © David Mdzinarishvili
Six-year-old Elene sits on the bed of in her aunt’s 14 sq metre room.
Six-year-old Elene sits on the bed of in her aunt’s 14 sq metre room. © David Mdzinarishvili
Diana Davlianidze, 49, looks out from the window by the banner, “Maybe at least you can be helped.” On January 16, Zurab Kiria, 52, an IDP, killed himself. According to his neighbours, his last words were, “Maybe at least you can be helped.”
Diana Davlianidze, 49, looks out from the window by the banner, “Maybe at least you can be helped.” On January 16, Zurab Kiria, 52, an IDP, killed himself. According to his neighbours, his last words were, “Maybe at least you can be helped.” © David Mdzinarishvili
Laundry hanging out to dry in the corridor of the former sanatorium.
Laundry hanging out to dry in the corridor of the former sanatorium. © David Mdzinarishvili
An old couch and broken watch in the hall in one of the two buildings of the Kartli complex.
An old couch and broken watch in the hall in one of the two buildings of the Kartli complex. © David Mdzinarishvili
A corner of the entrance hall of the Soviet sanatorium, which was turned into collective centre in 1992. What was supposed to be a temporary housing measure for the hundreds of thousands of Georgians fleeing Abkhazia turned into permanent housing.
A corner of the entrance hall of the Soviet sanatorium, which was turned into collective centre in 1992. What was supposed to be a temporary housing measure for the hundreds of thousands of Georgians fleeing Abkhazia turned into permanent housing. © David Mdzinarishvili
An internally displaced woman from Abkhazia hangs laundry from the window of her room in Kartli.
An internally displaced woman from Abkhazia hangs laundry from the window of her room in Kartli. © David Mdzinarishvili
Laundry and a three-wheeled bike in the entrance hall of the former sanatorium.
Laundry and a three-wheeled bike in the entrance hall of the former sanatorium. © David Mdzinarishvili

Georgian Displaced Still Long for a Home

The death of an IDP has reopened the debate on the dire conditions people originally from Abkhazia have been enduring for decades.

Wednesday, 16 March, 2022
IWPR

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

All photographs by David Mdzinarishvili, 29 January 2022.

Zurab Kiria was in his 20s when he arrived in Tbilisi in September 1993. He had fled Abkhazia, the Georgia’s separatist region on the Black Sea, together with hundreds of thousands of others as Sukhumi, the capital city, fell to Abkhazian forces. 

For the next three decades, he lived in a 14-square-metre small room in Kartli, a crumbling Soviet-era sanatorium in the outskirts of Tbilisi. On January 16, 2002, the man, who a few years ago changed his surname to Chichoshvili, took his own life.

His death shook his neighbours and the country, reopening the debate about the conditions in which the hundreds of thousands Georgians displaced from Abkhazia have been living in for decades.

Following wars in the early 1990s, about a quarter of a million Georgians fled the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The government responded to the sudden influx of displaced people by allocating public buildings as temporary shelters – sanatoriums, schools and hotels. 

It was stopgap solution, with no long-term strategy, in the belief that the displaced would be able to go back home. As the years passed, the temporary became permanent and the buildings allocated to them slowly deteriorated.

IDPs living in the Kartli complex have been protesting for years about the conditions and the state of disrepair of the building, asking for an alternative location – to no avail.

This publication was prepared under the "Amplify, Verify, Engage (AVE) Project" implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway.

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