839 people sought refugee status in Georgia in 2017, with over half of the cases accepted

Sozar Subari, Georgia’s Minister for IDP’s, Accommodation and Refugees stated that from 1 January to 1 December 2017, 839 people applied for international protection with his office.

Georgia gave 42 of them refugee status, 35 humanitarian status and 354 asylum-seeker status, while in 219 cases proceedings were terminated.

According to Subari, 488 of the applicants were Georgian citizens who returned from abroad mostly due to illegal migration. “We helped one to start a small business, while others needed legal assistance,” the minister said.

“Around 5-6 years ago, there were a maximum of 50 requests for asylum. However, there were fewer applications this year compared to the past two or three years. When there were problems between Syria and Iraq, and during the most severe military action in Ukraine, up to two thousand people applied per year,” Subari said.