The European Union is investigating the problems of eco-migrants in the South Caucasus

Housing insecurity, poor access to drinking water and irrigation, overflowing sewage, isolation from schools, work and health care – these are just a few of the problems highlighted by an EU-funded project tackling the problem of eco-migration in the Southern Caucasus, following a series of meetings with affected communities in Georgia.

 The project Eco-migration: dialogue and cooperation in the South Caucasus countries for better life is being implemented by the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) in the three South Caucasus countries, with the financial assistance of the EU.

The project aims to support the implementation of systemic reform in the field of eco-migration in the South Caucasus countries, by strengthening the capacities of civil society actors and enhancing dialogue at national and regional levels.

In Georgia, the project has held a series of face-to-face consultation meetings with eco-migrants living in the Kvemo Kartli region, highlighting a wide range of problems.

These include housing and farmland, isolation due to poor infrastructure, shortage of firewood, pressures on sewage systems and water, and difficult access to education and health care. In one village, sewage flows directly into the street, and there is no irrigation, in another there is no school and no public transport to the nearest village, another has had its water cut off, while all cite problems with the legal status of their homes, fearing eviction at any time.

The project will also study similar problems in Armenia and Azerbaijan. -02D-