Georgian FM says Russia distributes disinformation claiming Georgia is taking in refugees from Afghanistan
The Georgian government announced that 200 people have been evacuated through Georgia in the last few days. Photo: Netgazeti.ge.
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Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today that Russian agencies are distributing disinformation in claiming that Georgia is taking in Afghan refugees, amid the country’s involvement in the evacuation process from Afghanistan.
A regional transit hub has been set up at Tbilisi International Airport for the withdrawal of NATO member countries’ armed forces and evacuation of international organisations’ employees from Afghanistan after the various international organisations’ request for Georgia’s assistance.
Zalkaliani underlined that a few dozen people evacuated from Afghanistan will stay in Georgia ‘only for a few hours and after that, they will travel to their destination countries.’
This is a temporary measure and in the near future, they will be redirected to various countries in the United States and Europe,” Zalkaliani stated.
The Georgian government announced that 200 people have been evacuated through Georgia in the last few days.
It was a well-organised process. People (evacuated from Afghanistan) arrived to Tbilisi by military planes. At the Tbilisi International Airport, they were met by a logistically organised mechanism,” stated Zalkaliani.
Georgia has been involved in NATO-led peace ISAF and Resolute Support mission operations in Afghanistan since 2004.
Georgian soldiers started to leave Afghanistan in May of 2021.
The Taliban took control of Kabul and declared its victory on August 15.
Tbilisi International Airport is being used as a way station by evacuation flights of the NATO Military Transportation Organisation, which is running daily flights to Kabul and back, the Georgian government reports. "From Tbilisi, passengers evacuated from Kabul are being transported abroad via various charter flights. Up to 2,000 individuals have been evacuated so far via Georgian territory,” said the statement.
The last sixteen Georgian citizens remaining in Kabul following the Taliban’s capture of Kabul on August 15 have been evacuated from the country. The IPN news agency has cited the Georgian Foreign Ministry as saying that the individuals have been evacuated via a British charter flight. The agency said that the British plane will land in Dubai and the individuals will be able to return to Georgia from Dubai later today.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry and the administration of the government of Georgia are working in coordination to ensure the safe return of several Georgian citizens who are now in Afghanistan, after the Taliban seized control of Kabul yesterday and crowds are trying to flee the country. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that the Georgian citizens, who were contract employees in Afghanistan, contacted them yesterday and ‘we have instantly begun taking actions to help them.’
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva has sent a letter to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in which she offers 'deepest gratitude' on behalf of the IMF and its staff for Georgia's assistance in the 'safe and swift' evacuation of fund personnel and their families from Afghanistan.
Georgian President Salome Zurabshvili 'strongly condemns' the terrorist attack outside Kabul's airport in Afghanistan, where 13 US service members and at least 60 Afghans have been killed. Two bombing attacks took place in Kabul yesterday, reports the Pentagon and Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health.
Georgia has sent drinking water supplies for people who are at the airport of Kabul in Afghanistan as humanitarian aid, announces the government of Georgia. Deputy Head of the Administration of the Government of Georgia Revaz Javelidze said that Georgia stands by its international partners and is involved in both humanitarian and evacuation processes.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzel thanks Georgia for its support to the evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan, 'which allowed European Union member states to swiftly and safely transit and transfer via Tbilisi airport'.
Russian human rights lawyer Ivan Pavlov has entered Georgia after the Russian government has launched a case against him for the disclosure of information in one of his clients’ cases, Radio Liberty Georgian service reports. Pavlov posted on his Telegram page earlier today that he left Russia due to bans that were imposed on him in connection with the criminal case which ‘made it impossible for him to work.’