World Refugee Day - How many people asked asylum in Georgia?
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Today the world marks World Refugee Day.
Every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror,” the United Nations (UN) reports.
Currently there are about 65 million forcibly displaced persons in the world. 20 million of them are refugees.
Official data reads that 947 people asked for asylum in Georgia in 2016.
Meanwhile, 1,513 people have refugee and humanitarian status in the country.
Currently there are about 280,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Georgia; about six percent of the country’s total population.
All of Georgia’s IDPs are either from Abkhazia or Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) – two regions of Georgia that are currently occupied by Russia.
Georgia is now granting refugee or humanitarian status to 95 percent of asylum seekers from Syria and Iraq, who have escaped the violent regime of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Georgian officials say.
Georgia is offering housing to about 500 refugees from eastern Ukraine who were forced from their homes by ongoing conflict.
Almost a thousand foreign citizens are seeking asylum in Georgia, including people from Syria and Iraq who are fleeing conflict on their home soil, says Georgia’s Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili.
People wishing to seek asylum in Georgia are being given more assistance, thanks to the installation of special help desks as Georgia’s main airport.
A total of 379 foreign citizens applied for asylum in Georgia in the first six months of 2017. Of these, a total of 46 applications were satisfied.
The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia has announced a tender to purchase 400 apartments for internally displaced persons.
The Embassy of the United States to Georgia released a statement for World Refugee Day and highlighted it ‘continues to stand with Georgia in support of its Internally Displaced People.’ Currently, there are 273,411 IDPs in Georgia as a result of local conflicts in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions, which still remain occupied by Russia.
Greek police have arrested a 40-year-old Georgian national who was caught driving a refrigerated truck with 41 migrants in the back, the Guardian reports.
Georgia granted asylum to 38 foreign citizens during the period of October-December 2021, the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed.