Proposed foreign agent law will hurt children, poor, says Caritas Georgia worker

By Gina Christian, OSV News

(OSV News) -- A Catholic aid worker in the nation of Georgia told OSV News that a proposed law targeting nongovernmental organizations and media would severely undermine care for children and the poor in that country.

"I cannot imagine how (we will) advocate for the rights of the children, the rights of the people," said Tamar Sharashidze, children and youth protection and development program manager for Caritas Georgia.

The agency -- part of Caritas Internationalis, the universal Catholic Church's global federation of more than 160 humanitarian organizations -- is a locally registered NGO that serves as the country's largest social service provider, according to executive director Anahit Mkhoyan.

But that reach is now endangered by a renewed push to enact Georgia's proposed "Transparency of Foreign Influence" legislation.

The bill, which had been shelved in 2023 after it sparked violent protests, has been dusted off and reintroduced by the leading Georgia Dream party -- whose de facto leader, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanshvili, is seeking a Moscow-facing path for the nation, which gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The text of the bill specifies that organizations, activist groups and media outlets receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad must register with Georgia's government as "agents of foreign influence." After 83 members of Georgia's parliament approved it April 17 -- amid a brawl of protest that broke out in the legislative chambers -- the bill has advanced to another reading by lawmakers.

"It means that all civil society organizations and all media sources who are not controlled by the government will be labeled as organizations pursuing the interests of a foreign power," said Sharashizde. "The law aims to declare all our Western partners, like the United States, European donors and international organizations, as suspicious forces."

The proposed law is similar to one on the books in Russia, which heavily regulates both foreign agents and religious activity.

Caritas Georgia, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, "has a lot of projects (that) serve the poor people of Georgia," said Sharashidze, noting that the organization had functioned for years without government support.

In 2009, Caritas Georgia "started getting some money from the state," she said -- but still not enough to operate at scale.

"(Those) funds only cover 50% of (our) expenses," said Sharashizde, with the rest of the agency's budget coming from "our partners in Western countries."

Such donations are crucial to sustaining Caritas Georgia, and any constraints due to a foreign agent law will strangle that outreach, she said.

"We have shelters for street children, and small group housing for children without parental care," she said. "We are registered with the ministry of health and social care as a provider. … (But) if this law is (enacted), we will be considered foreign agents taking care of Georgian children."

Tens of thousands of Georgians have been regularly pouring into the streets of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, to voice their opposition to the bill, which also threatens the nation's path to European Union membership -- and Sharashidze is among the demonstrators.

"I have never remembered such protests in Georgia," she said. "Never so huge (as this). We are a small country, but in the streets there are more than 100,000 people."

While "all generations" are taking part in the demonstrations, most protesters "are young persons who were born in freedom," Sharashidze said. "They don't know what the Soviet Union is. They would like to be … living citizens of an EU member country."

Police have cracked down on the demonstrations, deploying "tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds," said Sharashidze, who dons a face mask and glasses "to avoid the gas."

Although several arrests have taken place, even "some priests of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches … are with the Georgian people now in these demonstrations, and they openly declare their opinion" given the gravity of the bill's implications, she said.

"This proposed law would limit the capacity of civil society and media organizations to operate freely, and it could limit freedom of expression and unfairly stigmatize organizations that deliver benefits to citizens of Georgia," said Sharashidze. "And the voice of the people is more and more loud. And we have hope that we will win."