Government tackles Georgia’s internal migration problems

The Government of Georgia is working on ways to stop the exodus of Georgia’s mountain village population in a bid to resolve the economic problems facing Georgia’s rural areas.

A working group led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili gathered today in the Government Administration and discussed ways to develop Georgia’s mountainous areas and stop the population moving to more inhabitable and profitable areas.

Latest data revealed severe demographic problems in Georgia’s mountain villages, as people tended to leave their homes for more inhabited places.

According to the 2002 figures, 164 villages in Georgia were deserted and 152 villages were barely inhabited, with ten families or less. Most of these villages were located in mountain areas.

PM Garibashvili assigned members of the working group to prepare a final version of a draft law about mountain regions by February 20. At this time the draft law will be reviewed and adopted during Parliament’s spring session.

Experts, Government representatives, Members of Parliament and non-governmental organisations were involved in the process of creating the draft law.

The main priority of the law will be to stop migration from mountainous areas and trigger economic development.