Rights Georgia held informational meetings in different regions of Georgia on current issues of statelessness with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and in cooperation with the Public Service Development Agency.

Meetings were held from September 21 to October 18 in seven cities of Georgia - Batumi, Zugdidi, Kutaisi, Marneuli, Telavi, Akhaltsikhe, and Gori - and were attended by representatives of local non-governmental organizations, as well as the regional offices of Public Defender and Legal Aid Service of Georgia.

During the information meetings, the lawyers of Rights Georgia introduced the features of the problem of statelessness to the representatives of the civil society and State agencies, as well as discussed the possibilities of cooperation to eliminate the problem.

Today, there are millions of stateless people in the world. Statelessness means that a person is not considered a citizen by any State, which creates significant obstacles to the proper realization of human rights.

In a number of cases, stateless persons are limited in their ability to live freely, obtain a residence permit, own property, move, and travel freely. Additionally, they face obstacles in accessing health and education systems, as well as employment issues.

The number of stateless people in Georgia is small, although the exact number is unknown.

Starting in April 2022, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Public Service Development Agency is conducting a nationwide “door-to-door” campaign to identify and document stateless/undocumented persons.

Rights Georgia has been providing free-of-charge legal assistance to stateless persons since 2020, within the framework of the ongoing project with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).