{"id":34041,"date":"2022-04-13T10:41:28","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T08:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humanrights-online.org\/kak-v-gruzii-sporjat-o-naplyve-rossijskih-migrantov\/"},"modified":"2022-04-13T10:56:39","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T08:56:39","slug":"how-georgia-argues-about-the-influx-of-russian-migrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humanrights-online.org\/be\/how-georgia-argues-about-the-influx-of-russian-migrants\/","title":{"rendered":"How Georgia argues about the influx of Russian migrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Georgia argues about the influx of Russian migrants<\/h1>\n

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In early March, a wave of migration swept Tbilisi – taking advantage of the visa-free regime, thousands of Russians chose Georgia as a temporary or permanent residence. This is not the first, but the largest mass influx of Russians in recent years into a country which considers Russia an occupier of 20% of its territory. The BBC tells the story of the debate in Georgia about the consequences of the “open door” policy.<\/p>\n

Eighteen-year-old Roman Pern holds a white-blue-white flag, a symbol of anti-war protest by Russians. In Russia, where anti-war slogans are equated with “special operation” fakes, he would probably be detained, but here in Georgia, it is possible to speak openly against the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The rally takes place in front of the Swiss Embassy in Tbilisi, where a section of Russian interests is located – there is no Russian embassy in Georgia. After the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 and Moscow’s recognition of the independence of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Russia.<\/p>\n

The protesters, mostly Russians and Belarusians, demand withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They unfurled a huge Ukrainian flag in front of the embassy. Passing cars honk their horns in support of the protesters.<\/p>\n

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Photo caption, Roman and his wife Svetlana (wearing masks on the left) at an anti-war rally in Tbilisi on March 12<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
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Roman says that since he was 13 years old he went to Alexei Navalny’s rallies. In Russia – as long as Vladimir Putin was in power – he and his wife saw no future. The president’s announcement of a “special military operation” in Ukraine was the last straw.<\/p>\n

“The reason [for the decision to leave Russia] was primarily a question of our security, well, and the very existence in an aggressor country is extremely unpleasant. I don’t want to pay a penny for bombs that kill people in Ukraine,” Roman explains.<\/p>\n

The next day they bought a ticket to Tbilisi via Istanbul, taking only the essentials and a red and white cat named Banana with them from St. Petersburg, where Roman was born and raised.<\/p>\n

“We chose Georgia because it’s safe here, it’s fairly easy to get here because of the liberal legislation and there are many people here who share our feelings about what’s happening in Ukraine today,” he explains.<\/p>\n

According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, only in the first three and a half weeks after the war started, more than 35,000 Russian citizens entered Georgia – more than 14,000 of them stayed. It is not yet clear how many of them intend to live in Georgia permanently: Russian citizens can stay here without a visa for a year.<\/p>\n

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Russian speech is almost everywhere in Tbilisi today<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

European country at an affordable price<\/h2>\n

IT specialist Ilya Pushkin, like many Russians living in Georgia, has the Ukrainian flag on his Facebook avatar. Ilya moved from Moscow to Batumi, a city on the Georgian Black Sea coast, six years ago. His decision was also related to the war in Ukraine – the one that began in 2014.<\/p>\n

“I realized that I wanted to leave Russia because I saw how people felt about it and were happy about all this military action. I had a choice between Georgia and Ukraine. Because I had acquaintances in Georgia for several years and it seemed to me that Georgia was better in terms of reforms, I decided to go here,” he says.<\/p>\n

By the time he moved here, quite a few Russians were already living there. Despite the modest scale of the local market and economy, many had opened their own businesses here – cafes, beauty salons and travel companies. Some worked remotely from Georgia. Ilya himself registered an individual business and continues to work here in his specialty.<\/p>\n

“Georgia, it seems to me, attracted Russians first and foremost by freedom,” he says. – In Russia they either live in complete fear or in complete ignorance. […] Going to Europe is difficult for Russians, and Georgia is like a kind of European country at an affordable price.”<\/p>\n

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Photo by EPA Photo caption, Action in Tbilisi after the world learned of the massacre of civilians in Ukrainian Bucha<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The ranks of Russian immigrants have grown considerably since the recognition of Alexei Navalny’s structures as extremist organizations in Russia and the growth of the number of “foreign agents. Russian opposition activists, human rights activists, and journalists flocked to Georgia, fearing persecution by the authorities.<\/p>\n

Not everyone was accepted: at the end of August 2021, for example, Lyubov Sobol, a colleague of Alexei Navalny, was not allowed into Georgia. She blamed it on the Georgian authorities’ unwillingness to spoil relations with Moscow.<\/p>\n

Some Georgian opposition and human rights activists have expressed the same suspicion, that Georgian authorities do not want to let Vladimir Putin’s critics in for fear of making the Kremlin angry. The Georgian government denies this.<\/p>\n

“I can’t imagine that there would be a border guard in any country who would ask – excuse me, are you from the opposition or position?” – said Georgian Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri in Parliament, answering a question about denial of entry to Russians, including journalist Mikhail Fishman. The minister said earlier the decision to deny entry was made by border guards, who have their own regulations for this.<\/p>\n

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