Support Devi’s Right to Stay in Georgia
Interview
Devi Asmadiredja was born in Germany, but chose to come to Georgia in May 2011. She has very rarely left since then, and now calls Georgia home. She originally came to experience the Caucasus mountains and “almost instantly felt in love with the places, the people and the nature.”
Since 2013, Devi has been working as a tour guide, taking groups into the mountain villages to truly discover the Georgian region of the Caucasus, to meet Georgian people, learn about Georgian culture and spread the word about this small but rich and diverse hidden gem.
In 2015, Devi even introduced Georgia to Indonesia. In cooperation with the Georgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and with her own photos about Georgia in Jakarta, she introduced what had become "her country" to the place where her Father’s side of the family came from.
As well as all of this, she has a Georgian partner and lives with his family. Devi's recent request for residency was rejected without the responsible administration and court giving a clear reason. A petition to the President has been started and needs as many signatures as she can get.
“[For the] first time in my life, I have the feeling I belong somewhere. Everybody should have a place to feel home, and for me its Georgia. People here accept me as I am. I never really felt at home in Germany. For me, it’s like taking my life away from me, if I cannot stay officially on a residence permit here. Who knows when the law will be changed again. I worry about it.”
Georgia Today arranged to meet Devi to find out more.
Why do you want permanent residency?
I am so much in love with Georgia, its nature, its people, I can’t even imagine going anywhere else. I built my life here from scratch. For me, it’s not even about permanent residency, it’s not about residency at all, more so how they have handled the situation. The majority of my friends live here, I know the land, the people and how life works here.
What can you offer Georgia/what have you already given?
I love Georgia, I consider it to be my home. I know its mountain regions well and have always been interested in the culture of mountain peoples – Kist, Tush, Khevsur. Over the years, I have gained lots of friends here and have many valuable contacts. But at the same time, I still come from Europe, have a European education, I know how European people think and what they are interested in. I have brought many tourists to Tusheti, Khevsureti, Pshavi, Vashlovani and Pankisi valley, and my knowledge and contacts allow me to show them [the] kind of Georgia that bigger operators cannot show or do not want to show, because it involves too much work or too little money for them. But for me, meeting normal people in the countryside and mountains, seeing their life, experiencing their openness is the only way to truly learn about Georgian culture, to truly feel the Georgian spirit. Because my tours go out of the beaten track, many travel writers come to me for information – this year for example, National Geographic and Tim Burford, Bradt Travel Guide Georgia, Constanze John Germany and Eva Dietrich, Travel writer from Switzerland have all contacted me regarding my knowledge in these areas. This in turn brings in more tourists. Everyone wins from this, local people, small businesses, other tour operators. There are many wonderful fruits, berries and herbs that Georgians used in old times, but these traditions have now completely or mostly disappeared. I am trying to bring to life the local production and distribution of such produce, as well as other natural products. It would complement the local tourist and catering business and offer additional income to people who live in more remote villages. Together with my friends, I also started an initiative we named Care2Clean-Up, to deal with the issue of trash that for me and for many of my clients and visitors is one of the biggest problems in Georgia.
Tell me about the exhibition in Jakarta, Indonesia
The exhibition was organized and sponsored by the Georgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. I went to Jakarta for 10 days in May 2015, which was like a dream. I hadn’t expected to ever go there from Georgia, and I was happy to present my photos in a solo exhibition.
What will you do if you cannot get residency?
I will keep fighting for it, but it takes a lot of energy out of me, which I could better use to promote Georgia. There is always the option to stay on a visa in Georgia, but I want some stability in my life. There was the change in visa rules in 2014, where people who had no residency could only stay three months in a half year period. In autumn 2014, I got my first temporary residence permit, and the second in 2015, which expired in February of this year.
In your attempts so far, what responses have you received from the president?
I applied last year for Georgian citizenship, I had many good recommendations and documents, and got denied. For a German citizen, gaining Georgian citizenship means losing the German one, because Germany doesn’t accept dual citizenship. I was prepared for this, even if all my friends said I was crazy. I applied directly to the President, but I think the application never reached his office.
I feel sad and lost. My life is here, [for the] first time in my life I have the feeling I belong somewhere, everybody should have a place to call home, and for me its Georgia. For me, it’s like taking my life away if I cannot stay officially on a residence permit here. Who knows when the law will be changed again.
Anything extra to say?
After getting that many signatures in so short a time, I am overwhelmed. I want to say thank you to everybody who cares about me. Getting so much support from all over the world, and in Georgia as well, bring tears to my eyes. I felt so alone, now I know I am not.
Tom Day