Lithuania to Set Migration Restrictions for People Blacklisted by Georgia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Monday, August 6
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry has tasked the state’s migration service to set restrictions for the individuals who were blacklisted by Georgia in the Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili list, which includes the individuals who have violated the rights of Georgian citizens in the country’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions since the 1990s.
After the adoption of the list which includes 33 individuals, for now, the Georgian government has taken steps with the cooperation of partner nations to create obstacles for the blacklisted people.
The de facto leaderships have called the list “provocative’ and vowed the creation of a response list, “which will have no legal levers,” as Tbilisi says.
Otkhozoria and Tatunashvili are the surnames of Georgian nationals, killed in the Georgian breakaway territories in 2016 and 2018.
Russia and de facto leaderships of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali take no measures either to detain nor to arrest the offenders of the cases.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze says that the number of the blacklisted people is expected to rise in the future.
“The list includes individuals who have been accused or charged with murder, kidnapping, torture or for concealing crimes committed against citizens of Georgia since 1991 up to now,” Bakhtadze says.
“As the Georgian law enforcers are still investigating certain crimes, more people may add to the list,” Bakhtadze said.
The prime minister says that the government has already specified the procedure which, with the active involvement of the international community and partner states, will hold the people accountable for their offenses.
“We have also specified the state bodies which will be responsible for the enforcement of the procedures mentioned by the list. The bodies will be responsible for making reports over the enforcement process for the government and parliament,” Bakhtadze said.
