Famous Quotes About Immigration

“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

 ― Franklin D. Roosevelt

“A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.”

 ― Ronald Reagan

“We asked for workers. We got people instead.”

 ― Max Frisch

“Nihil humanum a me alienum puto, said the Roman poet Terence: 'Nothing human is alien to me.' The slogan of the old Immigration and Naturalization Service could have been the reverse: To us, no aliens are human.”

― Christopher Hitchens

 “These days, it feels to me like you make a devil's pact when you walk into this country. You hand over your passport at the check-in, you get stamped, you want to make a little money, get yourself started... but you mean to go back! Who would want to stay? Cold, wet, miserable; terrible food, dreadful newspapers - who would want to stay? In a place where you are never welcomed, only tolerated. Just tolerated. Like you are an animal finally house-trained.”

 ― Zadie Smith

“I take issue with many people's description of people being "Illegal" Immigrants. There aren't any illegal Human Beings as far as I'm concerned.”

 ― Dennis Kucinich

Blue Heart Campaign

What is the Blue Heart Campaign?

An awareness raising initiative to fight human trafficking and its impact on society. 

The Blue Heart Campaign seeks to encourage involvement and inspire action to help stop this crime. 

The Campaign also allows people to show solidarity with the victims of human trafficking by wearing the Blue Heart.

The Blue Heart

The Blue Heart represents the sadness of those who are trafficked while reminding us of the cold-heartedness of those who buy and sell fellow human beings. The use of the blue UN colour also demonstrates the commitment of the United Nations to combating this crime against human dignity.

this campaign aims to make the Blue Heart into an international symbol against human trafficking. By "wearing “ the Blue Heart you will raise awareness of human trafficking and join the campaign to fight this crime.

Immigrants - Trafficking Victims

The immigrants often become the victims on trafficking.Human Trafficking is a crime against humanity. Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Victims are often lured with false promises of well-paying jobs or are manipulated by people they trust, but instead are forced or coerced into prostitution, domestic servitude, farm or factory labor, or other types of forced labor.

Here are some stories about the victims:

Elena was 20 years old when a family acquaintance told her she could make ten times as much money in the United States than she could in her small village. She and several other girls were driven across the border through Mexico, and then continued the rest of the way on foot. They traveled four days and nights through the desert, making their way into Texas, then crossing east toward Florida. Finally, Elena and the other girls arrived at their destination, a rundown trailer where they were forced into prostitution until she agreed to do what she was told. She lived under 24-hour. Elena finally made her escape only to be arrested along with her traffickers.






Irma left her home in Batumi to take a job in Turkey as a maid. Despite the promise of opportunity, she found herself exploited at the hands of an abusive host. She was tortured and confined to the house for three months. “I was hardly given any food,” she later said. “In solitary confinement in a room, I had no idea what to do.” Irma managed to escape and was repatriated by the immigration agency to send her home. She still suffers from psychological traumas.





Nana was 35 years old when she left for Turkey for a job as a worker at a factory. For nearly a month, she was abused and beaten by her employers. She told the courts that she was confined to a cellar and forced to work as a slave. She lived in a basement along with other victims, had little water supply or food. Her abusers have been accused of human trafficking, imprisonment, violence, and fraud.

Georgian Film "Fesvebi"

A film “Fesvebi”  (roots) is about a young man who, unwittingly, was far from the homeland, from the roots. But time does not help him forget about his home…

If you want something to touch your soul deeply, something that will remind you about your motherland and warm feelings from your childhood, presumably forgotten but firmly embedded somewhere in your memories, then this is the right movie. Every time I watch it or tell a friend this story, I have tears in my eyes, and I think it won't leave you without any impression as well. It's about those unresolved and forever-alive problems connected with motherland and identity. And the final scene brings a lot to think about... Unfortunately the young actor (grandson) was killed in a stupid civil war in Georgia, and this fact just shakes my nerves when I think about it. He was an excellent actor!    

Watch and enjoy this marvelous work of Georgian Cinema:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBqPDkwVa9o

Famous Georgian Immigrant - Katie Melua

One of the most famous Georgian immigrant is Katie Melua. Katie is one of my favourite singers. I'm sure you've all heard about her, but i want to remind you about her life :)

Biography

Katie Melua was born in Georgia and moved to Belfast when she was eight after her heart surgeon father landed a job there. When she was fifteen she entered a light-hearted TV talent competition called ‘Stars Up Their Nose’ and her version of Mariah Carey's ‘Without You’ earned her victory.

Katie later joined the Brit School for Performing Arts where she studied for a BTEC and Music A-level. Having visited the school on the lookout for new talent, Mike Batt of 'The Wombles' fame discovered Katie and immediately signed her up to his Dramatico label.

Having graduated from the Brits School with a distinction in 2003 she joined Batt in the studio to record a demo. Radio 2 DJ, Terry Wogan became her champion and his support of the single 'The Closest Thing To Crazy' led to it entering the charts at No.10 on its release.
Her debut album 'Call Off the Search' went quadruple platinum and in 2004 the young singer set off on her debut live tour. The album featured two songs written by Melua including 'Belfast (Penguins and Cats)' about her childhood experience living in the troubled capital of Northern Ireland and 'Faraway Voice' about the death of Eva Cassidy.

On 10 August 2005, Melua became a British citizen with her parents and brother. The citizenship ceremony took place in Weybridge, Surrey. On gaining British nationality, Melua was eligible for a British passport. Becoming a British citizen meant that Melua had held three citizenships before she was 21; first Soviet, then Georgian and finally British. After the ceremony, Melua stated her pride at her newest nationality. "As a family, we have been very fortunate to find a happy lifestyle in this country and we feel we belong. We still consider ourselves to be Georgian, because that is where our roots are, and I return to Georgia every year to see my uncles and grandparents, but I am proud to now be a British citizen."

Melua's follow-up album 'Piece by Piece' was released on 26 September 2005. The first single 'Nine Million Bicycles' was released the week before and reached number three in the UK charts. It also featured four more songs written by Melua and reached number one in the UK album chart on 5 October 2005.

 This album also helped the singer break Europe, as it sold more than one million copies in Germany alone. It has since sold 35 million copies worldwide.


Her third album was entitled 'Pictures' and was released in the UK on 1 October 2007. It was announced as being the last album on which Batt would be the lead writer and producer.

The record featured Melua's friend Molly McQueen, former frontwoman of The Faders, and Andrea McEwan, who wrote the lyrics for 'What I Miss About You' and 'Dirty Dice'.

In 2008, Melua embarked on a world tour, allowing her to focus on her previous three records. Her live performance at London's O2 Arena was released on DVD in May 2009.

 Melua focused on breaking the US during the first half of 2009 by undertaking an acoustic tour performing with her guitar and piano.


She then retired to the studio to write her new album on her own and with Guy Chambers, Rick Nowels and Mike Batt. On 24 May 2010, Melua's fourth studio album 'The House' was released.

The singer's scheduled European tour in 2010 was postponed due to illness, with Melua saying: "I had a bit of a breakdown so needed to take time off." In September that year she was ordered by her doctors to stop working, resulting in her hospitalisation for six months.

Her postponed tour took place in 2011 and she released her fifth album 'Secret Symphony' on 5 March 2012.

She also confirmed her engagement to World Superbike racer James Toseland in January 2012.

Thy got married in the Nash Conservatory at Royal Botanic Gardens in kew, west London, September 1 st 2012..

Katie Melua and James Toseland 

In her own words:

"I was born in Georgia in the former USSR (red wine, Stalin, Shevardnadze, Katie Melua) in 1984, living in Moscow for a while when I was three or four. Not surprisingly I don¹t remember a lot of Moscow back in the communist time, although one thing I do remember is that the place we were staying in did the most amazing pancakes I¹ve ever tasted. Leaving Moscow and the pancakes I spent most of my childhood in Georgia in the seaside town of Batumi. There¹s really nothing better than swimming in the Black Sea. When I was nine, my dad got a job as a heart surgeon in Belfast, so we moved there. When I told this to one of my teachers later on in England he described the move as: "From the frying pan into the fire". I never really viewed it as that because I had a great childhood both in Georgia and Northern Ireland. I found the people in Northern Ireland extremely warm and made great friends at St. Catherine¹s primary school and Dominican College, Fortwilliam.

 I went to catholic schools in Northern Ireland while my younger brother went to a protestant school. I didn¹t always want to be a singer or songwriter. My ambition when I was thirteen was to be a politician or a historian. I honestly thought I'd be able to bring peace to the world.... If I ruled it! We lived in Belfast for five years after which we moved to South East London. There I went to Nonsuch high school for girls. When I was fifteen I entered a TV talent competition singing Mariah Carey's "Without You". I won the competition (the prize was a bedroom makeover and an arm chair for my dad) and also gained valuable experience by performing live on ITV three times.

 Moving so much didn't really bother me, cause you get so used to it. I've been to seven different schools, the final one being the Brit School for Performing Arts where I did a BTEC, and Music A-level.

 I started writing songs two years ago and have (with my parents' help) a small studio set-up at home. My influences are Queen, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Eva Cassidy, Irish folk music and Indian music. I strongly believe that great artists are artists who are original and talented in their music and performance. Music should be performed live. It is offensive to the audience if you mime. I always get a warm feeling when I see someone holding either a guitar case or a violin case on the street, - it's like I know I'd get on well with that person and I always smile or say hi."

                                                            Katie Melua singing georgian song 

Contemporary Immigration In Georgia

The most acute problem in Georgia is labor migration. In the post-Soviet period, the horrendous collapse of living standards and crisis had forced the population to find jobs in the abroad. Unfortunately, this is still going on. its intensity is not going to be decreased , it hasn’t received a legal form. Labor migration - it is a process that is very negative impact on the country's situation. The UN estimates that if current demographic trends continue, in 2000-2050 years the population of Georgia will be reduced by 2 million that is almost 40% - of the current population.

I decided to connect with Georgian immigrants through the internet and to make an interview. Here is the history of one of the Georgian immigrants (She asked me not to mention her name) :

"I’m 40 years old. At the moment I live in Italy. In the morning I work in an office and in the evenings I work as a baby-sitter. I left Georgia 10 years ago. My family lives in Georgia. My daughter was only 6 at that moment, soon she will be 16. To be an immigrant is very hard. On the 7^th year of my being here my family ruined. It’s hard for a woman to take on the responsibility to provide for the family and to be very far away from your child, and to be alone. Then you begin blaming husband that you missed years while your child was growing up. My daughter was growing up with my parents and brother. We have very good relationship with each other, but it’s just the call of relative bloods. Materinate love is very strong, but I don’t know she likes or dislikes, when she feels happy or sad. I have a conversation with her on Skype, I visit her twice a year but this is not enough. I miss sleeping with my child, to make dinner for her, just to walk with her, because 2-3 months of summer vacations are not enough for this. It’s very painful for me.

Unfortunately the number of immigrants is increasing. When you graduate from the university and there are no jobs or the salary is very law and you have no idea what to do, how to feed your child, when 3 or 4 years old child asks you to buy something when you will have money, this causes you to make the decision to leave everything to go anywhere abroad and to try your best for her.

Sometimes I think what was better, staying with her and having nothing or go and provide her, but live in unbearable pain. I don’t know… but I have already made my choice. It’s impossible to fill the gap of the years when we were apart.

Of course, I also miss my country. My country for me means the people whom I love and miss. I’m proud that I’m Georgian. Georgian roots are very strong and to realize this you have to live far away from your home. I arrived in Georgia after 5 years, and when I returned back it was much more difficult for me. The first time I was in Calabria and as soon as I had a chance I was walking on the beach. The smell of the sea reminded me of my country.

Adaptation is very difficult, when you don’t know the language and you feel yourself as a stranger, the culture is also very different.

Sometimes I used to wander in the streets to make resemblance with the strangers and my child.

The 8^th of August was a real disaster, the outbreak of the war in 2008. I was determined to flight back to Georgia. The officials at the Embassy adviced to change my mind, but I couldn’t. All the flights to Georgia were cancelled. The Venice Airport blocked me 3 times. Then I decided to go to Turkey and then get to Georgian border by bus. The Turkish government gave me the shelter for several days in Istanbul. 3 days later I arrived in my homeland. I needed to come back, there was no other way. Fortunately, the war ended soon but the pain and fear caused by this disaster was awful and scary.

Recently I got an offer from a job in Georgia. I’m still thinking of it, if it doesn’t work I’ll stay abroad as the immigrant again."

Kakutsa Cholokashvili

                      

Kaikhosro Cholokashvili, commonly known as Kakutsa (July 14, 1888 – June 27, 1930) was a Georgian nobleman and military commander, regarded as a National Hero of Georgia. Formerly a Colonel in the armies of Imperial Russia and the Democratic Republic of Georgia and a World War I veteran, he led, in the early 1920s, a guerrilla resistance against the Bolshevik regime established by the Soviet Russian Red Army in 1921. After the unsuccessful 1924 August Uprising against the Soviet Union, in which Cholokashvili commanded the largest single unit of the insurgent fores, he fled to France, where he died of tuberculosis. His remains were moved to the Mtatsminda Pantheon, Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2005.

Born into the prominent aristocratic family of Prince Ioseb Cholokashvili in the family estate at Matani, Kakheti, eastern Georgia (then part of the Tiflis Governorate, Imperial Russia).There is spelling of his name "Челокаев" (Chelokayev) in Russian documents... Cholokashvili graduated from the Tiflis Gymnasium for Nobility in 1907, and enlisted in the Imperial Russian army. After having served in the Tver Dragoon Regiment, he retired in 1912 and returned to Georgia, where he married Princess Nino née Meghvinetukhutsesi in 1913.With the outbreak of the World War I in 1914, he was recalled to active service and assigned to lead a cavalry squadron on the Austrian front. Wounded later that year, he was transferred to the Caucasus Front. During the Battle of Sarikamish in December 1914, he commanded a cavalry squadron within the corps led by General Gabashvili and distinguished himself by capturing and defending the strategic "Eagle's Nest" against the overwhelming Ottoman troops. He was severely wounded again and awarded a golden saber for his valor. After a medical course at the Tiflis St. Nino hospital, he was enlisted in the nascent Georgian Cavalry Legion which marched in Iran as part of General Baratov's 1915 expedition, and made a raid into Mesopotamia, where he joined the British expeditionary forces in 1916



With the outbreak of the World War I in 1914, he was recalled to active service and assigned to lead a cavalry squadron on the Austrian front. Wounded later that year, he was transferred to the Caucasus Front. During the Battle of Sarikamish in December 1914, he commanded a cavalry squadron within the corps led by General Gabashvili and distinguished himself by capturing and defending the strategic "Eagle's Nest" against the overwhelming Ottoman troops. He was severely wounded again and awarded a golden saber for his valor. After a medical course at the Tiflis St. Nino hospital, he was enlisted in the nascent Georgian Cavalry Legion which marched in Iran as part of General Baratov's 1915 expedition, and made a raid into Mesopotamia, where he joined the British expeditionary forces in 1916.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he returned to Georgia and became involved in the Georgian independence movement. He joined the National Democratic Party of Georgia in mid-1917 and helped organize national cavalry units early in 1918. On May 26, 1918, Georgia declared independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Promoted to Colonel, he commanded a cavalry division in the wars with Armenia (1918), Russia (1921), etc. He also briefly served as Deputy Defense Minister in 1919.
The Soviet invasion early in 1921 led to the fall of independent Georgia and the establishment of the Georgian SSR ruled by a Bolshevik Revolutionary Committee (Revkom). Cholokashvili did not follow many of his compatriots into emigration, but withdrew into mountains to organize guerrilla resistance to the new regime.

Kakutsa Cholokashvili (sitting left)

In March 1921, he led a small partisan group "The Conspirators of Georgia" which engaged in a series of skirmishes with the Red Army and Cheka units in his native region of Kakheti. After a clash at Sighnaghi in June 1922, Cholokashvili moved to the mountainous district of Khevsureti where he rallied local peasants against the Soviet government. The Red Army, supported by aviation, overran the area, but Cholokashvili managed to escape to neighboring Chechnya whence he made an inroad into Georgia in November 1922. His brother, Simon, was killed in action, while his family members were arrested and his father-in-law was. later executed by the Cheka.

One of last peactures of Kakutsa Cholokashvili

The most intense fighting erupted during the August Uprising in Georgia in 1924, the banner of which was entrusted to Cholokashvili. He took the town Manglisi in a surprise attack on August 29, but could not get reinforcement and moved to the eastern Georgian mountains where he seized control of Dusheti and crushed the Red Army units at Svimoniant-Khevi on September 3. Despite the uprising was generally unsuccessful and brutally suppressed, Cholokashvili refused to surrender and tried to organize, though vainly, sortie to Tbilisi on several occasions. He fought his last engagement at Khev-Grdzela in Kakheti in mid-September and could escape unbeaten despite being vastly outnumbered and shelled by the Red Army artillery. Eventually, the partisans' forces exhausted and Cholokashvili had to flee to Turkey where he was joined by several emigrants and moved to France.








He lived a hard life in France and died of tuberculosis in 1930. Buried initially at the Cimetière de Saint-Ouen he was moved in a few years to the Leuville Cemetery at Leuville-sur-Orge, a burial ground of the Georgian emigration to France.

Kakutsa Cholokashvili's grave at the Leuville Cemetery

Kakutsa Cholokashvili's grave at the Mtatsminda Pantheon

Cholokashvili's name was banned throughout 70 years of the Soviet Union. With a new tide of national-liberation movement in the late 1980s, he reemerged as a major symbol of Georgian patriotism and national resistance to the Soviet rule, his portraits seen elsewhere at protest manifestations. Public interest to his person further increased after his most trusted friend and comrade in arms, Alexandre Sulkhanishvili, returned from emigration bringing Kakutsa's famous banner of rebellion back to Georgia in 1990.
On November 20-21, 2005, he was moved to another grave at the Mtatsminda Pantheon, Tbilisi. The burial was attended by all high-ranking officials and thousands of Georgians from various regions of Georgia. His portrait graces the new banknote in value of 200 Lari. His name has also been given to a street in popular Vake district in Tbilisi where ironically the Russian embassy is located.

Georgian Lari depicting Kakutsa Cholokashvili

Another depiction of great respect to the national hero is the play “Kakutsa Cholokashvili” staged on Marjanishvili Theatre directed by Levan Tsuladze.

Nika Tavadze playing Kakutsa

Ekvtime Takaishvili

Ekvtime Takaishvili (January 3, 1863 - February 21, 1953) was a Georgian historian, archaeologist and public benefactor.

Born in the village of Likhauri in the western Georgian province of Guria (then part of Imperial Russia) to a local nobleman Svimon Takaishvili, he graduated from St. Petersburg University in 1887. From 1887 to 1917, he lectured on the history of Georgia at various prestigious schools in Tbilisi, including the Tbilisi Gymnasium for Nobility. During these years, he was actively involved in extensive scholarly activities and chaired, from 1907 to 1921, the Society of History and Ethnography of Georgia. Between 1907 and 1910, he organized a series of archaeological expeditions to the historic Georgian region of Tao-Klarjeti (now part
of Turkey).

After the February Revolution, he engaged also in politics, taking part in the establishment of the National Democratic Party of Georgia in 1917 and being elected to a post of Deputy Chairman in the Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia from 1919 to 1921.

In 1918, he was among the founders and professors of the Tbilisi State University (TSU). He lost his tenure both in the parliament and at the TSU in 1921, when the Bolshevik Russia's 11th Red Army put an end to Georgia's independence. He followed the Georgian government in their French exile, taking the Georgian national treasury – numerous precious pieces of Georgian material culture - with him to Europe.
The treasury contained into 39 immense boxes, were shipped to Marseille and placed in a bank depository.




Subsequently this precious cargo was transferred to one of the banks in Paris. Although the treasury was officially the property of the Georgian government-in-exile, it was actually Ekvtime Takaishvili who supervised this huge collection. In the early 1930s, Takaishvili won a lawsuit against Salome Obolenskaya (1878-1961), daughter of the last Mingrelian prince Nikoloz Dadiani, who also laid claim to a part of the treasury taken from the former Dadiani Palace in Zugdidi, Georgia. Despite numerous attempts by various European museums to purchase portions of this treasury, and extreme economic hardship, Takaishvili never sold a single piece of the priceless collection to live on and guarded it until 1933, when the League of Nations recognized the Soviet Union; the Georgian embassy in Paris was abolished and transformed into the "Georgian Office".

Ekvtime Takaishvili's statue in Kutaisi

Ekvtime Takaishvili's statue in Tbilisi

The treasury passed into the possession of the French state. In 1935, Takaishvili urged the French government to hand the collections to Georgia, but it was not until the end of the World War II when was he able, in November 1944, to attract the attention of the Soviet ambassador A. Bogomolov to the fate of the Georgian treasury. Joseph Stalin's good relations with General Charles de Gaulle enabled Takaishvili to bring the treasury back to Georgia. However, Takaishvili had to spend his long unhappy days in Tbilisi under house arrest, seemingly considered to be too old to be imprisoned.

St. Ekvtime 

Church named after St. Ekvtime

He was an author of numerous scholarly works on the history and archaeology of Georgia and the Caucasus which are of special value even today. In Tbilisi, Tbilisi Second Gymnasium has been named after him. He has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

History Of Immigration In Georgia

Hi :) I'm Lika. Now I'm writing my first blog.. hopefully it would be successful for me :)
People write blogs for pleasure, but this time it's a part of the challenging competition for me. Out of 14 topics I have chosen "Georgian Immigrants", because i think that nowadays it's a pretty common problem in our country.

Leuvile cementory is a burrial ground to many Georgian immigrants
who had left country after the Soviet invasion of georgia of 1921.

Noe Zhordania

The intense immigration process in Georgia started in 1920s after the collapse of the first independent government of Georgia. The Democratic Republic of Georgia was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia. It existed from May 1918 to February 1921. Facing permanent internal and external problems, the young state was unable to withstand the invasion by the Russian Red Armies, and collapsed in  1921 to become a Soviet republic. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) continued to function as the government in exile in France having the historical treasure of the government with them. A small town located near Paris - Leuville was declared as an official residence of the government in exile. 

The life in Leuville was difficult; there was neither  water nor  electricity supply and money quickly vanished, as well as any    hope of return to the homeland. The President Noe Zhordania and the members of the Government had to grow vegetables in the garden. They produced local vegetables but also Georgian red beans and Russian pickles, which were also produced by the local growers and jointly sold on the markets in Paris.

St. Nino's icon in the church

After the death of the founders of the real estate company, the Association for the Georgian Home was founded. Today, the castle is inhabited only in summertime. The Association organizes workshops, visits and celebrations. It also takes care of the tombs located in the "Georgian square", a part of the municipal cemetary of Leuville that was offered to the Georgian community. The Roman Catholic church of Leuville is also officially lent to the Georgian Orthodox Church for wedding and funerals; it houses an icon of St. Nino, the patron saint of Georgia.

On 26 May 2001, the National Day of Georgia, the municipality of Leuvillle twinned with the Georgian municipality of Mtskheta. The lounge of the castle of Leuville shows a few souvenirs from the Georgian government in exile, including photographies and the original independance act of the country, shown today flanked by the two national flags of Georgia.

                                                                                      Democratic Republic of Georgia 1918-1921

                                                                                              Russian occupation and uprisings