Lithuanian human rights activist denied entry to Georgia after 15 years of residency

Lithuanian activist denied entry to Georgia

Regina Yegorova-Askerova, a Lithuanian human rights activist who has lived in Georgia with her family for 15 years, was denied entry into the country. She was turned away at the border without explanation.

Yegorova-Askerova is a former journalist and regional director for the Swedish women’s rights organization Kvinna till Kvinna in the South Caucasus.

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Yegorova-Askerova shared news of her entry denial on Facebook on March 20, attaching a photo of the document handed to her at the border. The document cited the reason for refusal as: “Does not meet other requirements established by Georgian law.”

“It clearly illustrates where country is today in a nutshell,” she stated.

In recent years, dozens of cases have emerged in which foreign nationals, including long-term residents of Georgia, have been denied entry.

Critics of the Putin and Aliyev regimes are particularly frequently barred from entering the country.

For example, on February 3, 2025, Andrey Kuraev, a well-known Orthodox theologian and philosopher, and one of the main critics of the Moscow Patriarchate’s policies, was denied entry into Georgia.

In March 2024, Russian activist Igor Miglan, who worked on a Ukraine support project, was refused entry.

A month earlier, another Russian activist, Maksim Ivantsov, was also turned away. Ivantsov later stated that his denial was linked to his involvement in gathering signatures for Russian presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin.

In all cases, the individuals were not given a specific reason for their denial.

The Georgian organization “Centre for Social Justice” attempted to challenge the arbitrary refusal of entry to foreign nationals in the Constitutional Court. However, the court declined to review the case on its merits.