Georgia classified as safe origin country by German Gov’t - Ambassador

Peter Fischer, the German Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday said his Government had classified Georgia as a country of safe origin, leading to Georgian citizens seeking asylum in Germany having to prove they are being persecuted or having their individual and human rights violated in their home country.

[This] means that it is a country where citizens are not systematically persecuted based on politics, race, gender and other characteristics. Now this proposal is going through our Parliament and will soon become a law”, Fischer said.

Local media outlet Interpressnews cited Fischer as saying asylum seekers would have to leave Germany if their requests were rejected, leading to their deportation if they failed to follow the regulation.

The reason behind this is that Georgia is one of the countries that have a high rate of asylum requests in Germany, but [...] the recognition rate [for requests] is very low [at] less than two percent”, he said.

The diplomat also noted the number of Georgian nationals visiting Germany through the “legal way” of seeking work or stay.

Fischer also added his Government was seeking to “make our asylum system more manageable” and added the initiative was “not only about Georgia” as “we have people from all over the world seeking asylum”.