Homeless in Georgia

OVER the past couple of weeks, a new poster has appeared onTbilisis streets. On the left-hand side, police evict a young family from a building inTbilisi. Move right, and the picture fades into an image of SS officers deporting Jews. On top of all this sits the face of Koba Subeliani, the government minister charged with the accommodating those who fledGeorgias wars in Abkhazia andSouth Ossetia, and underneath him, the word Stop!

Nearly 1,500 displaced people have been evicted in the past two weeks. With the Government offering alternative accommodation outside the capitalonly, many fear losing their livelihoods as well as their homes. Yet comparison with the Nazis crimes is wildly undeserved. As we have written before, the Georgian government is within its rights to carry out these evictions. The buildings in question were not registered as official "Collective Centres", and none of the inhabitants thought they could live there indefinitely.

Georgian policies towards the displaced population are more enlightened than, say, those of neighbouring Azerbaijan (host to over 580,000 people who fled the war in Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s). The government aims to allow the 250,000 or so people to integrate where they are, providing homes for them to own, the chance to earn money and full access to social services. But to do so, the state needs an estimated $1bn; so far, it has only $200m.

The approach has been ham-fisted. When the evictions first began in August 2010UN officials and diplomats reacted with a barrage of criticism. In response, officials called a moratorium on further evictions until they had agreed a procedure acceptable to all parties. Evictions resumed on January 20th, butindependent monitors said theagreed p! rocedure s were poorly implemented. Many people did not know the precise dates they would be evicted. Too few of those displaced during Georgias war with Russia in 2008 received the compensation to which they are entitled. Officials paid too little attention to the worst-off, despite clear guidelines to the contrary. And some of the much-touted alternative accommodation that the Government offered is clearly inadequate, especially in the middle of winter.

Some opposition politicians encouraged people to stay put. They clashed with police, and led protest demonstrations outside Parliament. But young Georgians have used Facebook to organise protest events of their own, almost without exception, with the proviso "politicians not welcome". The episode reflects the broader state of politics in Georgia. In seeking crude political gain, opposition politicians discredit themselves and reveal their weakness. In contrast, President Saakashvilis government looks strong: having won a convincing victory in municipal elections last year, it can now push through unpopular measures with ease.

But as Transparency International, an NGO, arguesit would have been far better to start with a proper public debate about the evictions. Patience is not one of the Saakashvili governments virtues. In the drive for modernization, it likes dramatic change rather than careful planning and orderly administration.