Tbilisi's severing diplomatic relations with Moscow hurts million ethnic Georgians

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Severing diplomatic relations with Russia, initiated by the official Tbilisi, may negatively effect 300,000 Georgians residing in Russia without being naturalized.

Vedomosti Daily cites commentary of Head of the Russia and Georgia Unity Fund Vladimir Khomeriki. According to Khomeriki, about a million of ethnic Georgians live in Russia today. ''Of them 300,000 are migrant workers and illegal immigrants, the rest of them often visit Georgia annually.'' Russia who used to tolerate the Georgian illegal workers, might be pushed to expell them by the breakoff of the diplomatic ties between the countries, the expert says. He argues that Georgia by this demarche hopes to throw another blow at the image of Russia by inciting protest against deportation of Georgians.

According to Khomeriki, Georgians annually transfer to their homeland from 1.2 to 2 million dollars, which by 20% exceeds Georgia's state budget. Money transferred from Russia constitutes 60% of all cash flow in Georgia from abroad. The representative of the Georgian diaspora fears that Georgians and their businesses will be harmed not only by the disruption of diplomatic ties with Russia but also by Georgia's cancelling its membership in CIS: a lot of ethnic Georgians live in the former Soviet republics.