Georgia: Information on the Mengrel ethnic group

In telephone interviews on 11 and 13 July 1995, the Director of Research of the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think-tank, provided the following information. The Mengrels and the Svans are two subgroups of the Georgian nation. Historically, the situation of either group was more difficult when representatives of the other group were in power. The first president of post-Soviet Georgia was a Mengrel, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, while the current President, Eduard Schevardnadze, is a Svan. The two groups have regional and cultural differences, and they speak closely related dialects of the Georgian language, as opposed to different languages. Most outside analysts and academics do not consider the Mengrels to be a separate ethnic group.

In a telephone interview on 11 July 1995, a research analyst who specializes in the Caucasus at Prague's Open Media Research Institute (OMRI), a research enterprise dedicated to the study of the former Soviet Union and east-central and south-eastern Europe, provided the following information. The Mengrels reside in Mengrelia, the northwest region of Georgia, excluding the breakaway autonomous region of Abkhazia. There is currently a dispute as to whether Mengrelians are merely inhabitants of a region or constitute a distinct ethnic group; it is unclear whether their language is a separate entity or a dialect of the Georgian language.

The Mengrelians supported the Gamsakhurdia faction, and after Eduard Shevardnadze returned to Georgia in March 1992, there were "atrocities" committed against the Mengrelians by the private army, the Mkhedrioni, (the "Horsemen"), during the spring and summer of 1992. In an attempt at reconciliation in 1993, President Schevardnadze appointed the mayor of Zugdidi, the main Mengrelian city, to the position of prime minister. In the spring of 1995, President Schevardnadze issued a decree ordering the disarmament of the Horsemen; it is unclear to what extent there has been compliance to this order.

The research analyst stated that the Mengrelians are not the victims of systematic discrimination, but there may be incidences of regional discrimination against them, resulting from their previous attachment to the Gamsakhurdia faction. The salient difficulty facing the Mengrelians, and the vast majority of Georgians, is poverty.

The following four paragraphs constitute a verbatim copy of the contents of a facsimile that was sent to the DIRB by a professor in the Department of the Near and Middle East, School of Oriental and African Studies, at the University of London. The facsimile is maintained at the DIRB.

Thanks for your fax about the Mingrelians (=Megrelians/Mengrels). Within the South Caucasian (or Kartvelian) family we have four languages - Georgian, Mingrelian, Laz and Svan. Only between Mingrelian and Laz is there a degree of mutual intelligibility, so that some refer jointly to these as the Zan language. Only Georgian has a literature, is used as a language of tuition and is taught as a discipline in Georgia, where all Svans and most Mingrelians learn Georgian and use it as their literary tongue. Apart from it not being taught (or in any way encouraged), there are no restrictions as such placed upon its use.

I would argue that Mingrelians are indeed a distinct ethnic group, and this is the view of all the Caucasian peoples (including Laz, Mingrelians and Georgians living in Turkey) BUT within Georgia since c. 1930 all Mingrelians and Svans (plus the few Laz living there) have been classified as "Georgians", and most probably think of themselves as such as a result - the matter is extremely sensitive.

As long as Mingrelians are happy to view themselves as "Georgians", they have no problems rising right to the top (e.g. Z. Gamsakhurdia, former Premier T. Sigua, and present premier Patcatcia). But woe betide any Mingrelian who speaks up for the distinctness of Mingrelian language and culture! (The next sentence was omitted in order to protect the professor's identity.)

Mingrelians are generally looked down upon as country-bumpkins who are especially stupid (and venal) and thus form the butt of jokes. Since Mingrelia was the centre of Gamsakhurdia's support, it suffered greatly in 1992 at the hands of Shevardnadze's henchman, Ioseliani, and his Mkhedrioni militia. The situation there today is poorly reported and unclear. Let me know, if you need further help.

According to a United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees factsheet, the 1992 census of Georgia lists 400,000 people whose ethnic composition is Mingrelian and whose language is Mengruli (UNHCR 15 Oct. 1994).    For additional information on the Gamsakhurdia and the Shevardnadze factions, and on the Mkhedrioni, which may be of interest, please consult the Europa World Year Book attachment. For additional information on the Mengrels, please consult the other attachments.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Department of the Near and Middle East, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 12 July 1995. Facsimile sent to the DIRB. (Available at the DIRB)

Jamestown Foundation, Washington. 13 July 1995. Telephone interview with Research Director.

_____. 11 July 1995. Telephone interview with Research Director.

Open Media Research Institute (OMRI), Prague. 11 July 1995. Telephone interview with research analyst.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 15 October 1994. Republic of Georgia Public Service Information Factsheet. (UNHCR Infobase)

Attachments

Russian Information Agency Itar-Tass. 13 September 1993. "Georgia Denies Reports About Armed Clash in Mengrelia." (NEXIS)

Russian Press Digest. 16 January 1993. Yevgeny Krutikov. "South Ossetia May Open a Second Front Against Georgia." (NEXIS)

School of European Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton. 13 July 1995. Facsimile sent to the DIRB.

The Europa World Year Book 1994. 1994. Vol. 1. London: Europa Publications, pp. 1230-1234.

United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR). 15 October 1994. Republic of Georgia Factsheet.