Country pursuits: Ian Tod on Friends in Georgia

‘Georgians are very familiar with Russian aggression.’

During the past few years, Jesus Lane Meeting (JLM), along with Irish Friends, has supported Georgian Quakers by paying for the rental of a flat in Tbilisi for their Quaker activities. Georgian Quakers are a very diverse group who live throughout Tbilisi.

JLM recognises that the war in Ukraine has challenged Georgian Friends, who are trying to maintain their pacifist principles in a war environment. We are encouraged that they have managed to keep their Meeting active, and we will continue our support.

Georgians are very familiar with Russian aggression. Two of their regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, were invaded and de facto annexed by Russia after two brief wars in 1992-93 and 2008. In addition to the loss of territory, about 300,000 people became internally displaced people (IDPs). Many are still living in poor quality accommodation, and are struggling to integrate.

As a result of the war in Ukraine, about 100,000 Russians and 20,000 Ukrainians have moved to Georgia. The incomers are encountering difficulties in being accepted. The population of Tbilisi is about 1.5 million, and refugees have increased the population by almost ten per cent, resulting in the cost of accommodation increasing greatly, and the subway becoming very crowded. Several exiles attend Meetings for Worship to learn more about promoting peaceful resolution and the Quaker way.
As with many former Soviet states, there are close ties between Ukraine and Georgia, with families being able to move freely from one country to the other. Today, travel from Georgia to Ukraine is much more complicated, and involves going overland round the south of the Black Sea via Turkey, or flying to Hungary or Poland and then overland to Ukraine. An additional complication is that, following the collapse of the Soviet system, many Georgians migrated to Russia to find more productive work.

Georgian Friends are also being supported by Friends House Moscow and Friends World Committee for Consulations Europe & Middle East Section (EMES). The clerk to Tbilisi Meeting has been working through EMES on a program to provide medical support to war-affected people in Ukraine. The clerk has also been working with a German NGO to support Ukrainian refugees in Georgia.

If any readers would like to actively support Georgian Quakers by making a financial contribution, please contact me on the details below. In addition, the Working Group for the Cambridge-Tbilisi Quaker Link extends an invitation to anyone interested in joining our group. We keep in regular contact with Georgian Friends, and hold blended Meetings when required.

Ian is the convenor of the working group for the Cambridge-Tbilisi Quaker Link at Jesus Lane Meeting, Cambridge. He can be contacted at iantod@me.com.

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