Irakli Zakareishvili, whose items of disinformation have been verified by FactCheck multiple times, made another publication on cash assistance for refugee children from Ukraine living in Georgia. According to Mr Zakareishvili, refugee children from Ukraine collect GEL 470 in government assistance whilst assistance for Georgian refugees is GEL 44.
In fact, Ukrainian refugee families with children which currently live in Georgia do indeed receive a GEL 470 one-off financial assistance. However, the publication in social networks disregards the fact that the assistance is one-off leads to the impression that Ukrainian children receive GEL 470 every month as compared to the monthly allowances which are distributed to internally displaced Georgians.
Of note is that the Government of Georgia disburses the aforementioned cash aid with UNICEF’s support. The statement issued by UNICEF’s Georgia office says:
“The Government of Georgia will provide one-time financial aid to vulnerable Ukrainian families with children with the support of UNICEF. Families that arrived in Georgia after 1 February 2022 will receive 470 Georgian GEL per child. To receive financial aid, the parent/legal representative of the Ukrainian children should apply to the Social Service Agency's territorial and regional offices by the 1 March 2023 and provide his/her own passport and the child’s passport/birth certificate.”
In addition, in regard to the issue of aiding Ukrainian refugees in general, the socio-economic support programme for Ukrainian nationals and individuals in possession of a permanent residence permit in Ukraine currently living in Georgia anticipates that given the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, the influx of Ukrainian nationals and individuals in possession of Ukraine’s permanent residence permit on Georgian territory will continue and as per the decision of the Government of Georgia, socio-economic support to such refugees will continue until 1 May 2023. The socio-economic support programme envisions cash payments for accommodation and subsistence as well. In particular, each family is entitled to GEL 300 per month for accommodation for three months and each member of the family is also entitled to GEL 45 for subsistence for three months.
According to Tbilisi City Hall, some municipal services for Ukrainian nationals currently living in Tbilisi are free. In particular, they can use public transport free of charge. Ukrainian nationals are also able to use municipal sports centres, swimming pools, museums, theatres, libraries, multimedia libraries and art schools for free.
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