Georgian Faces of Migration

In Georgia IOM marked International Migrants Day by raising awareness against xenophobia and promoting diversity through an outdoor exhibition titled “COVID-19 and Faces of Migration” in front of Vake Park in Tbilisi. The exhibition features photos and stories of migrants and their families showcasing their migration journeys and highlighting benefits they bring to their own and to host communities.

IOM partnered with three local NGOs: Rights Georgia, Migration Centre and Green Caucasus, to identify foreign migrants open to sharing their stories. IOM also identified returnees, Georgian citizens, who benefited from IOM’s reintegration assistance and were open to discussing their COVID-19 related journeys.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching impact on our lives," said IOM's Chief of Mission in Georgia, Sanja Celebic-Lukovac. "It seriously limited our mobility and the fact that the social-economic, cultural and many other ties. Migrants and the mobile population have been affected much more disproportionately in many respects. Millions of migrants have remained stranded often without income or shelter, unable to return home due to COVID-19 mobility restriction."