Reasons for Migrating from the Regions to the Capital and a New Environmental Challenge
The issue of migration is an actual topic and problem for many countries and Georgia is not an exception in this regard. The main reasons for universal migration are: employment, education and improvement of life. These causes are provided by external migration as well as internal migration. It is noteworthy that people go from regions to large cities to get education and find jobs.
Every year a lot of young people go from different cities and villages to Tbilisi. In new environmental conditions, students face a number of challenges, most obviously adapting to the environment.
As already mentioned, a lot of people leave their homes and go to Tbilisi for various reasons. This topic has become very active recently, as the number of people in the capital has increased significantly and the city has become more noisy. At the same time, however, reflected in the regions that many people have gone and many have expressed dissatisfaction with the issue. People living in the regions have a sense of fear that soon the towns will be abandoned because a lot of citizens leave it. The reason for leaving the regions is the lack of jobs.
“The regions have long suffered the flow of brains, which increases the level of immigration. Young people prefer to learn or work in the capital, which is due to accredited educational institutions, with the prospect of finding a job and a higher pay.”
Accordingly Nicholas Bolkvadze, an 18-year-old pupil from Kutaisi, is very worried because of the situation in his town. He says that youth almost left Kutaisi, "If you look at the last period, Batumi has taken away Kutaisi's second city status, which is precisely conditioned by reasons of domestic migration. The traffic schedule has been restricted, if we have been able to use the transport till 11:00, now a very small part of city transport is available till 9 pm. Fun is also restricted, since there is no mass that occasionally decreases”, he said.
People living in the regions have a sense of fear that soon the towns will be abandoned because a lot of citizens leave it.
"I personally leave the country very soon for educational purposes, because I want to get quality education in a relatively quiet and calm environment. Kutaisi is good in this regard, but the state university of this city can not give me a quality education. Also I would like to avoid the chaotic city, endless traffic jams, polluted by emissions and many problems of the city like in Tbilisi. 20 young people from my town with me are going abroad to continue studying at university. However, the total number is more than 20 people. By this pace the population will be reduced, which is very bad, ``explained Nicholas Bolkvadze.
The reason for the departure from the regions is the lack of jobs and they believe that the situation should be improved immediately, otherwise the problems in the capital will be aggravated.
“The government should appeal to appropriate measures to stop migration. Instead of staying Parliament in Kutaisi and the people should be attracted to the region and the jobs should be settled, Kutaisi has been deprived of the status of a parliamentary city. Regions are falling slowly, the abandoned regions will be much more expensive for the country and soon there will be no place in Tbilisi too”, the activist of Movement "Leave Parliament in Kutaisi”.
There is also another important issue, the people who have gone from the regions and especially the students have difficulty moving into the characteristic of the big city, and it will be noisy, crowded, traffic jams or others.
Amanda Iremadze, a 19-year-old student of the Faculty of Law, who is from Tsageri, has moved to Tbilisi for higher education. It was not difficult for her to leave the place of residence, because she loves to get new challenges and moving to a strange city was also a big challenge. However, despite this, Amanda faced many problems in the capital, "I'm not used to the noise, and Tbilisi is very busy in this direction. Because of the traffic jams in the town, I have been in the transport for a long time, which is very difficult for me, `` said Amanda Iremadze.
Also, often, students from regions are victims of discriminatory opinions from people living in the city that causes stress, depression.
"I have often heard from the population that they do not enjoy that people from regions are living in Tbilisi and insult us. Calling people to return to the villages “your place not in the capital!”. This topic is very popular on social networks too, especially for holidays.
They are mocking and cursing people living in the regions, which then certainly suppresses people. If I had a chance to stay in my region, I would certainly not go to the capital. There was less prospect of finding quality education and service as I left in the region. At first I had great stress because of this, but it is not our fault that we leave our families and come here to study, `` said Amanda.
When there is not a high employment perspective in the region and the chance of learning is low, each person is looking for a better environment for creating good conditions. But if there is a chance of employment and learning in the regions, people will not be willing to go to Tbilisi, like me”, Amanda Iremadze added.
Financial factors are added to moral and psychological problems.
According to Amanda, nobody is happy when he leaves his own family, moving to a rented apartment and finding a home in a foreign town is associated with a huge expenditure for the student.
Amanda as well as Nicholas is afraid that her region will be protected from the population and only the abandoned houses will remain there.
"At the same time, I think that the regions will soon be destroyed. In Lechkhumi, there is a danger that soon people will leave their houses and go to the capital. In the Tsageri most people are young people and the younger generation want to live in Tbilisi. In order to eradicate this problem, I think there should be a higher education center in the region and more opportunities for employment, `` explained Amanda Iremadze.
According to the migration.commission.ge, over the last 12 years, the level of migration of the country has increased. A large number of Georgian population, left their families, went from the regions to the capital to live there, study or work.
The population of Georgia is 3 million 721 thousand people according to the http://saqinform.ge and the number of Tbilisi population for 2005 was 1 091 500 and now for 2019 the number has changed and it is 1 215 450 according to the tbilisi.gov.ge. And by 2020 this number will increase.
According to the source migration.commission.ge, in 2005-2017 years, from the regions of Georgia 108,252 people left their houses and went to the capital. From this number 308 is from Adjara, 6,759 from Guria, 2,797 from Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti, 6,319 from Imereti, 6,804 from Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, 19,614 from Mtskheta-Mtianeti, 33,863 from Kakheti, 4,673 from Kvemo Kartli, 7,978 from Shua Kartli, 19,137 from Samtskhe-Javakheti went to Tbilisi.
So, the problem of migration in Georgia is a very acute urgent matter. If the situation does not change in time and there will be no more prospects in the other cities, the country will face serious threats, the regions will be demolished and the capital will become very overloaded. It is necessary to take timely measures, open education centers, increase jobs and improve living conditions.
