Ukrainians and Russians remain among most numerous asylum seekers in Georgia

Among the people who have applied for asylum in Georgia this year, the largest group consists of citizens of Ukraine, with Russians also in the top 5.

Source: News-Georgia; the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, as European Pravda reports

Details: In the first half of 2023, 515 people applied for asylum in Georgia. 

Among them, the largest group was made up of Ukrainians (104 people), followed by citizens of Iran and Turkey, the fourth largest group was citizens of the Russian Federation (49 people); and the fifth largest group was citizens of India (17 people).

Over the previous year, 1,473 people applied for asylum in Georgia. 

Background:

• Statistics for 2022 show that Russian citizens accounted for the largest share of people during 2022 who entered the territory of Georgia in 2022 and stayed for a long time; the Ukrainians were in third place.
• According to an opinion poll conducted in the spring, 79% of Georgians favour allowing Russian citizens to cancel visa-free travel, but the ruling party does not support such a step. 
• The President of Georgia tried to raise the question of the cancellation of visa-free travel for Russians amid the mutiny of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) in Russia. 

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