VIDEO: One Border Story: Final. Documentary by Rousan Safaryan and Sona Kocharyan (ditord.com)

(ditord.com) Villagers in Djiliza, Chanakhchi, Akhkyorpi and about 7 other Armenian villages have found themselves cut from relatives and vital roads following the reckless demarcation of the Armenian-Georgian border.

Students of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) Rousan Safaryan and Sona Kocharyan have talked to some of the villages and prepared this very interesting 10-minute documentary.




This story is aimed to demonstrate problems people are facing as a result of Georgian-Armenian non-demarcated border and the absence of check-point in that area. After the collapse of Soviet Union during 20 years of negotiations around 70% of border between Armenia and Georgia has been clarified, while 30% is still not demarcated, which causes problems for people living in those areas. Chanakhchi, Akhkerpi and Jiliza are among the villages on the non-demarcated border.

Chanakhchi and Akhkerpi are near the border from Georgian territory. Jiliza is the neighboring village on the Armenian side. The distance between Chanakhchi and Jiliza is 2 km.

Several years ago the border control was strengthened. As a result, now people can't cultivate part of their lands, face some trade problems and have to cross around 100 km to get from one point to another legally by check-point. Otherwise, crossing illegally leads to huge fines and even imprisonment.